The Paradise Bank by Edwin Green Sara Kinsey

Author:Edwin Green, Sara Kinsey [Edwin Green, Sara Kinsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781351884471
Google: goRXDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-04-20T05:05:26+00:00

6.3 Mercantile Bank: principal overseas branch balance sheets, 1956 (by descending order of assets)

6.4 Mercantile Bank: net profits of selected branches, 1947–59

In addition to the favourable macro-economic climate and tax regimes in Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong, some of the increased profitability at these branches can be attributed to personal factors. For instance, Hong Kong’s post-war manager, Donovan Benson, was an expert on local business. Having managed the branch before the war, he was very friendly with Arthur Morse, the Hongkong Bank’s chairman and chief manager between 1941 and 1953. Benson was well known and liked in the Hong Kong business community, evidenced by the great distinction of serving as chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club between 1953 and 1967.

Similarly, Singapore branch was managed by a series of energetic and effective managers including Colin Wardle and Charles Pow, both of whom later became chief managers of the Mercantile Bank. Singapore branch also gained market share by shifting its customer base. Traditionally, the Mercantile had won only a very small share of the business of the large European agency houses such as Harrisons and Crosfields, Bousteads, Patersons Simons, the Anglo-Thai Corporation, and Guthrie and Co. Rather than concentrating on increasing this side of the business, the branch sought to extend its business with Chinese and Indian constituents. When Drake sent Wardle back to Singapore after the war he gave him some simple instructions: ‘European business is the same old story and that is why I suggested to you when you went to Singapore that you should go all out for Asiatic business.’45 Among the largest customers at Singapore were Hardial and Gian Singh, two brothers who had a number of interests including import/export merchants and the management of a department store. In 1952 the branch had over Straits$ 15 million advanced to the brothers. Unfortunately, the restriction of imports to Indonesia in 1952 left the Singhs with large amounts of stock that had been destined for the Indonesian markets. The size of their debt to the branch caused some consternation among the board, and with monthly repayments set at Straits$ 40 000, it would take some years for the branch to recover the funds. Other large Singapore customers included Aik Hoe, a Chinese rubber business, and Lam Soon Cannery, a coconut oil and products manufacturer and exporter. An inspection report of the Singapore branch in 1953 praised the office: ‘the most heartening feature of the branch’s advancement is their successful exploitation of avenues hitherto unexplored and the attraction of a larger share of Indian and Chinese business’.46

This view applied to many of the bank’s branches during this time. The large European agency houses and multinationals often gave the lion’s share of their business to the Hongkong Bank or the Chartered Bank, leaving the Mercantile to concentrate on smaller local businesses. This split of business also meant that the Mercantile was more likely to search out new forms of business. Bombay, for instance, had a very large inward bill business which derived from the many local importers of general goods who were customers of the bank.

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