s headquarters no longer stands ; it was demolished sometime after 1959. see library of congress, supra note 4. see elinor ostrom and oliver e. williamson, “ beyond markets and states : polycentric governance of complex economic systems, ” nobel prize lecture delivered at aula magna, stockholm university, stockholm, sweden ( december 8, 2009 ), https : / / www. nobelprize. org / prizes / economicsciences / 2009 / ostrom / lecture /. - 4recognizes mutual and separate interests can do so. with such a configuration, the crossborder financial system can be open, stable, and safe ; without it, the system can become unpredictable and dangerous. “ ring - fencing ” often serves as a catch - all for this dynamic, capturing any and all impediments to the free flow of finance, however and whenever they arise. however, as i have noted previously, that term obscures a distinction that plays a vital role in crossborder finance — between prudently placing a constrained amount of capital and liquidity within jurisdictions and legal entities before a crisis, and competitively seizing capital and liquidity during a crisis. this distinction determines more than just the possibility of an orderly cross - border resolution. pre - positioning of resources — when properly calibrated — can also provide the certainty that lets cross - border finance occur at all. certainty is the critical ingredient in achieving the careful configuration of interests i described. financial institutions need some certainty about the requirements they face by participating in cross - border activity. supervisors need some certainty about safety and soundness, not just of the foreign banks they host, but of their domestic banks operating overseas. creditors and investors need some certainty that a foreign authority won ’ t abrogate their contracts. elected officials need certainty that their constituents are not unfairly disadvantaged. all these parties — and the public — need some certainty that the resources promised to them won ’ t disappear at the first sign of stress. certainty fosters financial stability. it supports clear monitoring and thoughtful planning, by both institutions and their regulators. it signals the clear intention of authorities to cooperate, during normal times and in an emergency. it increases the odds that a cross - border financial institution will keep operating through a crisis. it fosters - 5more and deeper cross - border financial activity, by decreasing its risks and increasing its benefits, both to participants and to the global economy. certainty does require tradeoffs. none of us

##s. gov / inde / learn / historyculture / places - firstbank. htm ; national park service, “ second bank of the united states ” ( april 12, 2017 ), https : / / www. nps. gov / inde / learn / historyculture / placessecondbank. htm. library of congress, “ bank of north america, 305 - 307 chestnut street, philadelphia, philadelphia county, pa ” ( documentation compiled after 1933 ), https : / / www. loc. gov / item / pa1098 /. - 2its charter came from a new nation on the verge of bankruptcy. 5 six years of war had drained an already - short supply of domestic specie, a necessity for international trade. so little specie remained in the treasury that the “ continentals, ” used to finance the war, had depreciated to about two cents on the dollar. the united states lacked a common, sound currency to settle its debts, and without federal authority to levy taxes, it lacked a ready path back to solvency. ( another franklin quote applies : “ glass, china, and reputation, are easily crack ’ d, and never well mended. ” 6 ) in desperation, the founding fathers made a successful philadelphia merchant, robert morris, their new superintendent of finance. drawing on a plan from alexander hamilton, morris proposed a new institution, with the power to issue notes backed by $ 400, 000 in private capital. when it could muster only a fraction of that in subscriptions, the country turned overseas. a substantial loan in french bullion financed the new bank and saved the republic from collapse. america could declare independence, but she could not secure it without credit from abroad. that lesson was both hard earned and short - lived. four years later, a new pennsylvania legislature claimed that dividends to foreign creditors were draining muchneeded specie from america ’ s shores. james wilson, pennsylvania ’ s representative to the continental congress, wrote an impassioned legal and political defense of the bank, emphasizing its role in international commerce. he quoted sir james steuart, one of the world ’ s first economists, calling banking “ that branch of credit which best deserves the this account is derived from edward s. kaplan, the bank of the united states and the american economy ( 1999 ), at 3 - 10, and from janet wilson, “ the bank of north america and pennsylvania politics : 1781 - 1787,