My dissertation examines the intersection of sovereign lending and international trade in the business strategies of Baring Brothers & Co., one of the most influential merchant banking firms of the 19th century. While existing literature often treats high finance and trade as separate domains, I argue that leading financial intermediaries like the Barings leveraged their role in sovereign lending to influence borrowing governments’ trade policies and commercial environments. By underwriting government debt and acting as financial agents on the London Stock Exchange, the firm secured economic advantages, such as tariff reductions, tax rebates, and market access that reinforced its position in 19th-century globalization.

Merchant bankers’ dual function in government financing and international commerce allowed access to capital markets to be translated into commercial benefits. The study’s central research question is: How did the Barings utilize their influence in the sovereign lending market to influence the trade policies of borrowing and indebted governments? Through a global case-study approach, my dissertation explores Barings’ operations in Argentina, China, Mexico, and Russia, drawing on archival business sources, including confidential correspondence, financial ledgers, and trade statistics.

The findings will contribute to our understanding of how multinational financial institutions shaped global trade networks and state policies through financial leverage. By bridging the gap between studies on sovereign debt and international commerce, this research offers a novel perspective on merchant bankers’ economic and political influence during the first wave of globalization.