Banks

Banks are the anti-heroes of . You operate one of several banks in Eurasia in the 16th century and your goal is the same as the others': Crush the competition and wipe them out. Each bank requires a licence for each of the countries it wants to operate in, which is the first investment you need to make.

Starting nation
When starting the game, you need to choose a country of origin. Apart from lowering the operating costs in that country by a flat -25%, you also get a special bonus:

Eliminating rivals
The only way to eliminate a bank is to cause it to go bankrupt. This means causing insolvency: The most common way is to issue a loan to a competing bank (through credits), then start a massive campaign of sabotage: Wars, revolutions, freezing assets through espionage, intimidation, and more. If a bank is insolvent, it's eliminated from the game.