Ho Hong Bank

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The Ho Hong Bank (1917 - 1932) was a Malaysian bank, established to provide banking services that, until 1912, where solely delivered by European Banks.[1].The Ho Hong Bank was the first Chinese bank to engage in international banking. Consequential to the great depression, it merged in 1932 with the Oversea-Chinese Bank(OCB) and the Chinese Commercial Bank(CCB) to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation(OCBC).[2]

One of the founders, Lim Peng Siang or Lin Bengxian (1872 - 1948) was also the owner of the Ho Hong steamer company that operated from Xiamen. The name Ho Hong in Hokkien (Minnan) dialect means good winds. Which alluded to the trade winds that pre-steamer sailors depended to sail to South East Asia to trade.

[edit] Timeline

  • 1917: Lim Peng Siang founded the Ho Hong Bank Limited with branches opened simultaneously in Singapore, and Maur and Malacca in what is now Malaysia. Branches then opened in Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Ho Hong rapidly opened branches in Batavia and Palembang in the Dutch East Indies.
  • 1923: Branch opened in Hong Kong
  • 1925: Branch opened in Shanghai
  • 1930: CCB, Ho Hong and OCB agree upon a mutual support pact
  • 1932: The United Kingdom leaves the gold standard and devalues the pound sterling. This leaves Ho Hong and OCB in financial trouble and they approach CCB for help. The OCBC is born as the result of the merger of Chinese Commercial, Ho Hong and OCB.
  • 1933: The OCBC starts functioning on 2 January 1933. OCBC emerges as the biggest and strongest bank in the Straits Settlements. The Ho Hong branches in Malaya eventually become OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chinese in Singapore, Nov 7, 2005, Michelle Tan
  2. ^ http://www.aas.com.sg/features/archive/f05023.htm


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