Moses da Costa

Who was Moses da Costa?

Moses Mendes da Costa, also called Anthony da Costa, was an 18th-century English banker.

He was so successful as a banker, that he has sometimes been said to have been on the board of the Bank of England; however, although he held shares in the bank, he was not in fact ever a director.

In 1727, he brought an action against the Russia Company, which refused to admit him to membership on the ground of him being a Jew. The attorney-general decided that he must be admitted, whereupon the company petitioned Parliament to modify the former's charter so as to give it the right of refusal.