Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/450

442 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC. extensive exchange transactions. The standing of these banks depends entirely upon the status of their respective committees, and not necessarily upon the amount of their capital. Strictly speaking, the capital is purely nominal, often twing only Tls. 20,000, and seldom more than Tls.50,000 ; but in reality the capital is limited only by the financial •' strength " of the committee. These banks do not transact ordinary banking business beyond receiving fixed deposits ; they depend entirely upon making loans and discounting bills. They will not advance money on shares, land, or houses, but will accept only c;irgo and first-class bill discounts as security. For lams they charge from 8 to 12 per milie per mensem, according to the state of the money market and the nature of the cargo ;

H. E. R. Hlstek, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. S. K. SizcKi, KoBERT Miller, Yokohama Specie Bank. Mercantile Bank of India. E. B. Skottowe, H. KlGGE, diartered Bank of India, Australia, and China. Dcutsch-Asiatische Bank.

while for fixed deposits they pay interest calculated at the average daily rate of interest for the month. The third class of banks stand in the same relationship to the retailers and working classes as do the second class to the wholesale traders and well-to-do Chinese. Their capital ranges from Tls.5,000 to Tls. 10,000, and they advance small loans at a proportionately higher rate of interest, and derive some profit from petty exchange transactions. Though there is no Govern- ment control of Chinese banks, a certain local control is exercised by the bankers' guilds, which formulate rules by which their members abide. HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION. In the section of tliis book which deals with banking in the Colony of Hongkong, reference is made to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and details are given of its history and resources. It is unnecessary to re-capitulate these in this notice of the Shanghai Branch of the bank, but a few local particulars may be given. The Shanghai branch was opened at the same time as the head office in Hongkong, namely in April, 1865. The bank was fortunate in securing the services of Mr. David McLean as its first manager in Shanghai. Under his charge the bank made steady progress, and, when he left Shanghai in 1873 to manage the London office of the Corporation, Sir (then Mr.) Ewen Cameron, K.C.M.G., was appointed to succeed him. The business of the bank increased steadily under Sir Ewen Cameron's able management, and in 1S89, when he, like his predecessor, returned to I^ondon to become one of the managers of the bank there, the Corporation had attained a leading position amongst financial institutions in China. Sir Ewen Cameron is now a member of the bank's consulting committee in London. The present manager of the local branch is Mr. H. E. R. Hunter.

The premises occupied by the bank are situated in about the centre of the English Bund, and were acquired in 1873. The building then erected has been enlarged on several occasions, and is still inadequate to the large volume of business transacted by the bank.

bank opened an agency in Shanghai on May 15, 1893. Temporary premises were obtained at No. 11A, Nanking Road, and for the first few weeks business was conducted by Mr. M. Toshima. The management was then taken over by Mr. T. S. Nishimaki, and, early in 1894, the offices were removed to No. 21, The Bund. The outbreak of hostilities between China and Japan, in September, 1894, necessitated the temporary suspension of business at Shanghai, and all outstanding affairs were left in the hands of the Comptoir Nationale d'Escomptc de Paris. At the termination of the war the bank re-opened its offices. This was in July, 1895. Increasing business rendering more commodious premises necessary, new quarters, at No. 31, The Bund, were taken on September 1, 1900. On March 4, 1901, Mr. Sakio Choh succeeded Mr. T. S. Nishimaki, who was first transferred to Kobe and subsequently to London. Mr. Sakio Choh was transferred to the branch at Dalny on May 10, 1907, his place being filled by Mr. S. K. Suzuki, formerly manager of the Tientsin branch. The bank commenced its issue of notes on December 1, 1902.