History
In 1920 James Mackay, later the Earl of Inchcape, of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, established the P&O Banking Corporation to develop the shipping company's private banking business.
Its Director was Sir Alexander Kemp Wright also of the RBS. [2]
Inchacape incorporated the bank on 3 May 1920 with an issued capital of £2m. Shareholders included Lloyds Bank and National Provincial Bank. P&O Bank opened for business in London in June, the following month, and simultaneously at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. More branches overseas followed. In 1920 P&O Bank established a branch in Colombo, Ceylon, which it followed by establishing branches in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Canton.
In 1920 it also acquired Allahabad Bank (est. 1865) in India. However, P&O Bank ran Allahabad Bank separately.
However, P&O Bank was unable to wean the customers of the shipping business away from their existing banking relationships. In a search of income it ended up booking riskier business, with the result that it was plagued with bad debts.
In 1927 Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (now Standard Chartered Bank) acquired 75% of P&O Bank and later acquired the remaining shares, P&O Bank never having established a viable banking business. For a while, Chartered continued to run the two banks, P&O and Allahabad, separately. In 1937 Chartered merged in P&O Bank, but not Allahabad; the government of India nationalized Allahabad on 19 July 1969.
When Chartered closed the branch in Colombo, the Bank of Ceylon was able to take on almost the entire staff.
Indian Bank is an Indian public sector bank, established in 1907 and headquartered in Chennai. It serves over 100 million customers with 41,645 employees, 5,814 branches with 4,929 ATMs and Cash deposit machines. Total business of the bank has touched ₹1,094,752 crore (US$140 billion) as on 31 March 2023.
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is an Indian public sector bank based in Chennai. It has about 3,220 domestic branches, 2 DBUs about 4 foreign branches and representative office. Founded in February 1937 by M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar with twin objectives of specialising in foreign exchange business and overseas banking, it has created various milestones in Indian Banking Sector. During the nationalisation, IOB was one of the 14 major banks taken over by the government of India. On 5 December 2021, IOB got Degidhan Award 2020–21 by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology for achieving second highest percentage of digital payment transaction among public sector banks. As on 31 March 2022, IOB's total business stands at ₹417,960 crore (US$52 billion).
Bank of Ceylon is a state-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka. Its head office is located in an iconic cylindrical building in Colombo.
Bank of Chettinad is a defunct bank that originated in the Nattukottai Chettiar community.
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China was a bank incorporated in London in 1853 by Scotsman James Wilson, under a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria.
P&O was a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World currently operate several P&O branded businesses, P&O Ferries, Istithmar P&O Estates, and P&O Maritime Logistics. It also operates P&O Heritage, which is the official historic archive and collection of P&O.
The Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, later Mercantile Bank Ltd, 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.
Allahabad Bank was an Indian nationalised bank with its headquarters in Kolkata, India. Founded in Allahabad in 1865 and nationalized by the government of India in 1969, the bank provided banking and financial services for 155 years until it was merged with Indian Bank in 2020. It was the oldest still running joint stock bank in India until its merger.
Arthur Anderson was a Scottish businessman and Liberal politician. He was co-founder of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O).
James Lyle Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape,, known as Sir James Mackay from 1894 to 1911, was a British businessman and colonial administrator in India who became Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company ("P&O") and founded Inchcape Retail Ltd.
Steam Navigation Companies became widespread during the 19th century after the development of steam-powered vessels, both steamboats, which were generally used on lakes and rivers, and ocean-faring steamships. Companies that share the name Steam Navigation Company include the following, listed by their country of ownership.
Sir Alan Garrett Anderson was a British civil servant, politician and shipowner.
Nations Trust Bank PLC is one of the listed banks in Sri Lanka with 96 branches, 99 ATMs and 64 cash deposit & withdrawal machines as well as an automated channels and is the issuer and sole acquirer for American Express Credit Cards in Sri Lanka. Nation Trust Bank's major shareholders are John Keells Holdings and Central Finance Company PLC which are leading companies in their respective operating sectors in Sri Lanka.
Cargills (Ceylon) PLC is a Sri Lankan Retail, FMCG, Banking and Restaurant company which is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The controlling interest in the company is held by Ceylon Theatres PLC.
The Alliance Bank of Simla was a British-run though India-registered bank that commenced operations in Simla in 1874 under the management of James Lewis Walker. The bank was established to take over the business of the United Bank of India, established in 1866, which had operations in Simla and Umballa. Its board put the United Bank of India in voluntary liquidation on 21 March 1874, and Alliance Bank commenced operations two days later. After 49 years, Alliance Bank failed on 27 April 1923 due to speculation by its management. At the time that it failed it had 36 branches, including ones in Lahore, Lucknow, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Rangoon.
The Oriental Bank Corporation, or "OBC", was a British imperial bank founded in India in 1842 which grew to be prominent throughout the Far East. As an Exchange bank, the OBC was primarily concerned with the finance of trade and exchanges of different currencies. It was the first bank in Hong Kong and the first bank to issue banknotes in Hong Kong.
Brodie McGhie Willcox (1786–1862) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) and the co-founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, one of the United Kingdom's largest shipping businesses.
SS Nubia was a passenger-cargo steamer built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland, at a cost of £100,000 and launched on 13 December 1894.
Archibald Orr Lang was a Scottish shipping businessman and unofficial member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Walker Sons and Company is an engineering firm established in Kandy in 1854 by a Scottish engineer, John Walker, as John Walker and Co. It is the seventh oldest operating company in Sri Lanka.
