Formed by Act of Parliament in 1724 to incorporate the holders of ‘Equivalent Debentures’, these being 5% bonds of uncertain redemption date issued to unlucky creditors of the Scottish national debt (soldiers, tradesmen etc) for whom there was insufficient cash in the ‘Equivalent Fund’ created by England under the 1707 Act of Union. The Fund was granted to Scotland by the English Parliament and was intended to be ‘equivalent’ to the additional duties the Scots were expected to pay as a result of the Union. The company’s authorised capital was the exact amount of the debentures – £248,550.0s.9½d. In 1727 the company obtained a Scottish charter to create a bank for banking in Scotland only (thus evading the Bank of England’s monopoly) with an initial capital of £111,000. This was the Royal Bank of Scotland. After this the Equivalent Company continued in existence in London, paying regular dividends, we assume with those shareholders who had chosen not to convert their shares into the Royal Bank. In 1835 the company distributed its Equivalent Stock to its shareholders. Cornelius Buller (1772-1849) was a banker who served as Governor of the Bank of England 1824-1826. Coussmaker was a prominent London merchant of Dutch origin who dies in 1833.