{"product_id":"9789815378641","title":"The Hongkong Bank in Singapore: 1877 - 1902: The First 25 Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eSingapore, December 1877. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opens for business in a city where reliable currency is scarce, silver is steadily losing value against sterling, and much of commerce rests on trust and reputation. This book traces the branch's first 25 years: its day-to-day work financing trade and managing exchange, its pursuit of the right to issue bank notes, and the occasional crises, from a banknote forgery to the theft of $272,000 from the bank's vault.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor author R.E. Hale, the story lies in the people. Nine managers passed through in this period, each navigating a different combination of market conditions and head office expectations, with varying degrees of success.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWorking alongside the British staff were the long-serving Eurasian clerks, and the Compradore's department, which managed cash and mediated relationships with local Chinese merchants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeyond the bank, the Chettiar moneylenders were indispensable to local credit, and their promissory notes proved a recurring and costly temptation to the branch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Marshall Cavendish Education","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49033777676523,"sku":"EB_BM0800_E07-03_SIMS","price":34.88,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0758\/4484\/5803\/files\/7d295db4-bc1d-4d77-966b-fa9291fded0f.webp?v=1786948878","url":"https:\/\/kinokuniya.com.sg\/ja\/products\/9789815378641","provider":"Books Kinokuniya Singapore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}