Mercantile Bank of India, London and China: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|UK business}}

{{about|the historic British bank which was acquired by HSBC in 1959|other banks with similar names|Mercantile Bank (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Mercantile Bank Ltd

| logo =

| type =

| image = File:1 Dollar - Mercantile Bank of India, Shanghai Branch (01.07.1924) 01.jpg

| image_caption = A banknote issued by Mercantile Bank of India operating in China, the Chinese government allowed for certain foreign banking corporations to become "note issuing authorities", these banknotes were issued to circulate in China.

| fate = Acquired by [[The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation|HSBC]]<br /><small>1959</small><br />Acquired by [[Citibank]]<br /><small>1984</small><br />Acquired by [[the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.]]<br /><small>1987</small>

| predecessor = Mercantile Bank of Bombay <small>(1853)</small><br />Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China <br /> <small>(1857)</small><br />Mercantile Bank of India, Ltd <br /> <small>(1893)</small>

| location = [[Bombay]] <br /><small>(1853)</small><br />[[London]] <br /><small>(1858)</small>

| industry = [[Financial services]]

The '''Mercantile Bank of India, London and China''', later '''Mercantile Bank Ltd''' ({{zh|t=有利銀行}}), was an Anglo-Indian bank with business focus in the Far East. It was founded in Bombay in 1853 as the '''Mercantile Bank of Bombay'''; and later in 1857 was renamed to Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China with [[London]] as its headquarters.

By 1959, through a series of mergers and divisions, its name had been shortened to 'Mercantile Bank, Ltd', and was acquired by HSBC the same year. The bank was an issuer of Hong Kong bank notes until 1974.

===Early years : 1853–1900===

The historic bank started life in October 1853 as the Mercantile Bank of Bombay, taking the name of the city, [[Bombay]], where it was founded. It expanded its operations to the Far East in November 1854 with the opening of an office in [[Shanghai]]. In 1857, the bank was granted a [[royal charter]], and it established a presence in [[Hong Kong]]. The name was late changed to the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, and it moved its headquarters to [[London]] in 1858.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3116615 The Business History Review, Vol. 72, No. 1 ]</ref><ref>[http://gwulo.com/node/7107 Mercantile Bank of India, 1857–]</ref><ref>[http://numismondo.net/pm/cey/indexS117.htm CEYLON Banknotes, Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China 1867–80]</ref>

It competed with the other great British banks of those times, such as the [[Oriental Bank Corporation]], [[The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation|Hongkong and Shanghai Bank]] and [[Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China]]; involved in trade between India and China and other [[British possessions]] [[eastofSuez]]. By 1860, its total assets reached the amount of US$21.7 million, a medium-sized bank by the standards of that time – a comparison shows that one of the leading Anglo-Indian banks, the Oriental Bank Corporation was about three times larger in terms of total assets. With the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869; and completion of [[Indo-European telegraph line]]<ref name=CB-H-02>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5hEPzls02BIC&pg=PA32 Page 32 | The Rise of India: ] Its Transformation from Poverty to Prosperity by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha</ref><ref name=CB-H-03>[http://www.siemens.com/history/en/news/1069_indo-european_telegraph-line.htm Indo-European Telegraph line and impact of rapid industrialization]</ref>

<ref name=CB-H-04>[http://atlantic-cable.com/CableCos/Indo-Eur/index.htm The Indo-European Telegraph Company] by Steven Roberts</ref> from London to [[Calcutta]], and its extension to China in 1871;<ref name=CB-H-05>[http://www.thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/Foreign_Banks_in_China_Part-I.pdf The foreign banks in China, Part I — (1850–1900)] ''The Opening of China to the Outside World'' by John E. Sandrock</ref> most British banks (including Mercantile bank) were well placed to expand and develop its business.

The bank expanded its presence with branches across India, the [[Straits Settlements]] and [[Federated Malay States]], and in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It issued banknotes in [[Penang]], [[Singapore]] and [[Hong Kong]]. It became the issuer of [[Hong Kong banknotes]] for the first time from 1859 to 1892.<ref name="HKDHistory">[http://www.atsnotes.com/catalog/banknotes/hong-kong.html World Paper Money Catalog and History - Hongkong Dollar]</ref><ref name=HKNOTE-H-01>[http://www.spink.com/auctions/pdf/11003.pdf Collection of Historical banknotes - Hong Kong, Shanghai, China] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618060117/http://www.spink.com/auctions/pdf/11003.pdf |date=18 June 2013 }}</ref>

[[Panic of 1893|Trouble in 1893]] meant it lost its [[Royal Charter|charter]], and was reconstituted as the '''Mercantile Bank of India Ltd'''.

===Transition years : 1900–1959===

There was a re-consolidation of its operations at the beginning of the 20th century; and in 1912 it again becamean issuer of Hong Kong banknotes, a privilege it retained until 1974.<ref name="HKDHistory"/><ref name=HKNOTE-H-01/>

During the [[Second World War]], the Mercantile Bank had to close down several offices in the Far East, but it managed to re-open its offices after the war. The Hong Kong office re-opened in February 1946 and the [[Shanghai]] office in 1945, but was closed down its Shanghai operations in 1952 due to the [[Communist Party of China|Communist party]] rule.<ref name=CBBOOK>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aesatCvz-PgC&q=Mercantile+Bank+shanghai+1952Page&pg=PA244 255, Chapter | A History of Modern Shanghai Banking. The Rise and Decline of China Finance Capitalism Armonk, New York, London, M. E. Sharpe, 2003, 325 p]</ref> In 1952, total assets of the bank totalled US$205.5 million.

===Amalgamation into HSBC and divestment : 1959–1987===

The bank was acquired in 1959 by [[The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation]]. By then its name had been shortened again, to the Mercantile Bank Ltd.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hsbc.co.in/1/2/miscellaneous/about-hsbc/150-years-in-india |title=HSBC - 150 years in India |access-date=8 January 2012 |archive-date=28 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728110837/http://www.hsbc.co.in/1/2/miscellaneous/about-hsbc/150-years-in-india |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/5273141381/ Flickr -Mercantile Bank of India - Bombay - 1942]</ref> The former office in Bombay now houses the [[HSBC Group]]'s Head Office in India.

The Mercantile Bank continued to issue Hong Kong banknotes until the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201203/13/P201203130262.htm| title = Hong Kong currency exhibition reveals story of city's evolution (with photos)}} </ref> The signing of the historic [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]] in 1984, provided HSBC added impetus to expand overseas and sold the entity - Mercantile Bank, Ltd to [[Citibank]] the same year as part of its consolidation strategy.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-3362141.html Citibank completes acquisition of Mercantile Bank Ltd. from Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp.] {{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/35/HSBC-Holdings-plc.html|title = HSBC Holdings PLC - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on HSBC Holdings PLC}}</ref> It was eventually sold to [[the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.]] in 1987.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}<!-- Unable to find any citation. Please provide if any refs are found. Keeping the line as stated by the original author -->

Not to be confused with [https://web.archive.org/web/20130509034817/http://bmcbankltd.com/index.asp Bombay Mercantile Bank] which a is Co-operative bank.

{{Portal|Banks}}

*[[Oriental Bank Corporation]]

[[Category:Indian companies established in 1853]]