Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the nature of the business conducted by the branches of an American international bank, the International Banking Corporation (hereafter IBC). Although IBC had the largest foreign branch network among the US banks before World War I and it mainly focused on Asia, it was the latest entrant among major international banks in the East. The literature on American international banking before World War I clarified why expansion of foreign branch networks was restricted by their institutional background. However, it does not clarify the branch level activities of the US international banks due to limited access to archival materials. Therefore, even though only partially, we try to fill the gap based on newly explored archival sources. Consequently, we clarify the roles of four branches of IBC within its branch network: London Branch was the key for acceptance; Beijing Branch supplied funds to Shanghai Branch; Tianjin Branch focused on foreign trade finance; and Guangzhou Branch conducting both exchange transactions and fund supplies to Hong Kong Branch. However, competing with other banks, especially with British ones, IBC lagged because it had a similar business model to them and it was also a latecomer.
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Notes
- 1.
Majima(1907), Eikoku Kawase Ginko ni Kansuru Fukumeisyo (A Report on British Foreign Exchange Banks).
- 2.
This approach is following Nishimura (1994, p. 33) for analysing the Hongkong Bank’s branch balance sheets in 1913.
- 3.
Inspection Report, Peiping Sub-Branch, As of 8 October 1930, Hua-qi Yin Hang 113, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 4.
Beijing was changed its name to Peiping in 1928.
- 5.
In the data attached to the Their accounts in the balance sheet of the Beijing Branch, in the debit (assets) side, the Shanghai Branch had Py$6.3 million; other than the Shanghai Branch, only the Mukden Branch had Py$809. Inspection Report, Peiping Sub-Branch, As of 8 October 1930, Hua-qi Yin Hang 113, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 6.
Inspection Report, Peiping Sub-Branch, As of 8 October 1930, Hua-qi Yin Hang 113, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 7.
Half Yearly Report for 31 December 1923, from the Peking Manager to the General Manager, Hua-qi Yin Hang 136, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 8.
Inspection Report, Peiping Sub-Branch, As of October 8th 1930, Hua-qi Yin Hang 113, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 9.
Half Yearly Report for 31 December 1923, from the Peking Manager to the General Manager, Hua-qi Yin Hang 136, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 10.
Half Yearly Report for 31 December 1923, from the Peking Manager to the General Manager, Hua-qi Yin Hang 136, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 11.
On the Tianjin Branch, The Tientsin Manager to the Vice President, Monthly Letter No.64, October, 1936, Hua-qi Yin Hang 166, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
- 12.
On the Guangzhou Branch, The Canton Manager to the Vice President, Monthly Letter No. 67, 29 January 1937, Monthly Letter No. 68, 27 February 1937, 25 March 1937, Monthly Letter No. 70, 26 April 1937, Monthly Letter No. 71, 25 May 1937, Month Letter No. 73, 25 July 1937, Monthly Letter No.74, 25 August 1937, Monthly Letter No. 75, 25 September 1937, Monthly Letter No. 76, 25 October 1937, and Monthly Letter No. 79, 24 December 1937, Hua-qi Yin Hang 156, the Business History Archives Centre, the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(C)16K03766, 16KK0049, and (C)19K01774.
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Sugawara, A. (2020). American International Banking in Asia: The Case of IBC in China. In: Nishimura, T., Sugawara, A. (eds) The Development of International Banking in Asia. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55615-2_10
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