The first published Bank Return was issued monthly under the provisions of the Bank of England Act of 1833 and consisted of averages of weekly figures for the preceding three months, four items only being shown: Circulation, Deposits, Securities and Bullion. Eleven years later a Schedule to the Bank Charter Act of 1844 prescribed the form which, with slight modifications, has lasted until the present day. The Return is divided into two parts, one dealing with the Issue Department and one with the Banking Department; the separation is for the purposes of accountancy only and there is not and never has been any corresponding physical separation within the organisation of the Bank.

For well over a century, until the publication of annual accounts in line with Companies' Acts requirements and current accounting practice began in 1971, the Return was the only form of account published regularly by the Bank, although a certain amount of information about its financial position was made available at various times to Parliamentary Select Committees. Under the terms of the 1844 Act the Return is produced weekly, giving figures at first for the close of business on a Saturday until 4 November 1857, after which Wednesday's figures were used – the reason for the change being, it is thought, that earlier information was called for at a particularly crucial moment during the worldwide financial crisis of that year.