required a legislative charter. Reformers tried several legislative strategies to get their own bank, including attempts to incorporate credit unions such as the Farmers' Storehouse company. That came to an end in 1835 when Charles Duncombe produced a "Report on Currency" for the Legislative Assembly, which demonstrated the legality of the Scottish joint-stock bank system in Upper Canada. The difference between the English chartered banks and the Scottish joint stock banks is that the Scottish banks were considered partnerships and hence didn't need a legislated Act in order to operate. The joint stock banks thus lacked limited liability, and every partner in the bank was responsible for the bank's debts to the full extent of their personal property. The chartered banks, in contrast, protected their shareholders with limited liability and hence from major loss; they thus encouraged speculation. The Scottish joint-stock banks followed a "hard money policy." They avoided speculative risk because if they failed, their shareholders were responsible for the full loss. Since the banks did not require a legislated charter, many more banks could be founded, and they were more competitive and freer from political influence and corruption. Duncombe's report opened the gate for many new competitive banks to enter the market - just as the entire Anglo-American financial system was coming apart at the seams in a financial panic lasting until after the Rebellions of 1837. The Bank of Upper Canada survived only because of its influence on government. The joint-stock banks Following Duncombe's report, the Farmers' Bank and the Bank of the People were founded on a joint stock basis, until the Family Compact conspired to make new ones illegal in 1838. The end of monopoly The monopoly of the Bank of Upper Canada had been slowly eroding with the chartering of the Commercial Bank, and then the joint-stock banks. The Act to outlaw further joint-stock banks in 1838 again tilted towards monopoly. However, in 1841 the Bank of Montreal, long seeking an entry into Upper Canada, purchased the Bank of the People and quickly began to expand its branch network. The Bank of British North America also entered the provincial market around that time. As a result, the Bank changed its strategy and in 1850 it became the official bank of the Province of Canada, collecting all government revenue and issuing all government cheques. By 1863, the bank was struggling; in 1866 the Bank of