140 years on, HSBC plants new roots

ON this day 140 years ago, HSBC opened its doors in Singapore. The decision to do so for the (then) 12-year-old Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank was pretty clear.

The port of Singapore was the largest trading hub along the Calcutta to Hong Kong spice route, and so our first branch on the island was launched to finance the growing trade across the corridor. From 1885, Singapore's burgeoning rubber industry led to rising prosperity and attracted an increasing number of migrants looking for a better life. In this period, we provided loans to Chinese merchants and financed the import and export trade.

From 1881 until 1909, HSBC had permission to issue notes in Singapore which was significant in Singapore's economic development as the notes were trusted by local merchants as a stable and secure currency for transaction. As a reflection of the multicultural nature of Singapore, each banknote carried the many languages of the island - English, Chinese, Malay, Arabic, Tamil and Gujarati.