Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, transfer funds, or obtaining account information, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff. ATMs are known by a variety of names, including automatic teller machine in the United States redundantly ATM machine, automated banking machine. Although ABM is used in Canada, ATM is still commonly used in Canada and many Canadian organizations use ATM over ABM. In British English, the terms cash point, cash machine, "hole in the wall" are most used. Other terms include any time money, nibank, tyme machine, cash dispenser, bankomat or bancomat. Many ATMs have a sign above them, indicating the name of the bank or organisation that owns the ATM, including the networks to which it can connect. In Canada, ABMs that are not operated by a financial institution are known as "white-label ABMs". According to the ATM Industry Association, there are now close to 3.5 million ATMs installed worldwide.
However, the use of ATMs in Australia is declining – most notably in retail precincts. On most modern ATMs, customers are identified by inserting a plastic ATM card into the ATM, with authentication being by the customer entering a personal identification number, which must match the PIN stored in the chip on the card, or in the issuing financial institution's database. Using an ATM, customers can access their bank deposit or credit accounts in order to make a variety of financial transactions such as cash withdrawals, check balances, or credit mobile phones. ATMs can be used to withdraw cash in a foreign country. If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that in which the bank account is denominated, the money will be converted at the financial institution's exchange rate; the idea of out-of-hours cash distribution developed from bankers' needs in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States. Little is known of the Japanese device other than that it was called "Computer Loan Machine" and supplied cash as a three-month loan at 5% p.a. after inserting a credit card.
The device was operational in 1966. Adrian Ashfield invented the basic idea of a card combining the key and user's identity in February 1962; this was granted UK Patent 959,713 for "Access Controller" in June 1964 and assigned to W. S. Atkins & Partners who employed Ashfield, he was paid ten shillings for the standard sum for all patents. It was intended to dispense petrol but the patent covered all uses. In the US patent record, Luther George Simjian has been credited with developing a "prior art device", his 132nd patent, first filed on 30 June 1960. The roll-out of this machine, called Bankograph, was delayed by a couple of years, due in part to Simjian's Reflectone Electronics Inc. being acquired by Universal Match Corporation. An experimental Bankograph was installed in New York City in 1961 by the City Bank of New York, but removed after six months due to the lack of customer acceptance; the Bankograph did not have cash dispensing features. It is accepted that the first cash machine was put into use by Barclays Bank in its Enfield Town branch in North London, United Kingdom, on 27 June 1967.
This machine was inaugurated by English comedy actor Reg Varney. This instance of the invention is credited to the engineering team led by John Shepherd-Barron of printing firm De La Rue, awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year Honours. Transactions were initiated by inserting paper cheques issued by a teller or cashier, marked with carbon-14 for machine readability and security, which in a model were matched with a six-digit personal identification number. Shepherd-Barron stated "It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash."The Barclays–De La Rue machine beat the Swedish saving banks' and a company called Metior's machine by a mere nine days and Westminster Bank's–Smith Industries–Chubb system by a month. The online version of the Swedish machine is listed to have been operational on 6 May 1968, while claiming to be the first online ATM in the world; the collaboration of a small start-up called Speytec and Midland Bank developed a fourth machine, marketed after 1969 in Europe and the US by the Burroughs Corporation.
The patent for this device was filed in September 1969 by John David Edwards, Leonard Perkins, John Henry Donald, Peter Lee Chappell, Sean Benjamin Newcombe, Malcom David Roe. Both the DACS and MD2 accepted only a single-use token or voucher, retained by the machine, while the Speytec worked with a card with a magnetic stripe at the back, they used principles including Carbon-14 and low-coercivity magnetism in order to make fraud more difficult. The idea of a PIN stored on the card was developed by a group of engineers working at Smiths Group on the Chubb MD2 in 1965 and, credited to James Goodfellow; the essence of this system was that it enable
Garuda
For the national airline of Indonesia, see Garuda Indonesia, for the giant wasp, see Megalara garuda The Garuda is a legendary bird or bird-like creature in Hindu and Jain mythology. He is variously the vehicle mount of the Hindu god Vishnu, a dharma-protector and Astasena in Buddhism, the Yaksha of the Jain Tirthankara Shantinatha. Garuda is described as the king of a kite-like figure, he is shown either in an anthropomorphic form. Garuda is a protector with power to swiftly go anywhere watchful and an enemy of the serpent, he is known as Tarkshya and Vynateya. Garuda is a part of state insignia in India, Thailand and Indonesia; the Indonesian official coat of arms is centered on the Garuda. The national emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila; the Indian Air Force uses the Garuda in their coat of arms and named their special operations unit after it as Garud Commando Force. In Hinduism, Garuda is the king of birds. A Garutman is mentioned in the Rigveda, described as celestial deva with wings.
The Shatapatha Brahmana embedded inside the Yajurveda text mentions Garuda as the personification of courage. In the Mahabharata, Garutman is stated to be same as Garuda described as the one, fast, who can shapeshift into any form and enter anywhere, he is a powerful creature in the epics, whose wing flapping can stop the spinning of heaven and hell. He is described to be the vehicle mount of the Hindu god Vishnu, they are shown together. According to George Williams, Garuda speak, he is a metaphor in the Vedic literature for Rik, Saman and the atman. In the Puranas, states Williams, Garuda becomes a literal embodiment of the idea, the Self who attached to and inseparable from the Supreme Self. Though Garuda is an essential part of the Vaishnavism mythology, he features prominently in Shaivism mythology, Shaiva texts such as the Garuda Tantra and Kirana Tantra, Shiva temples as a bird and as a metaphor of atman; the Hindu texts on Garuda iconography vary in their details. If in the bird form, he is eagle-like with the wings open as if ready and willing to fly wherever he needs to.
In part human-form, he may have an eagle-like nose, beak or legs, his eyes are open and big, his body is the color of emerald, his wings are golden-yellow. He may be shown with either four hands. If he is not carrying Vishnu, he holds a jar of amrita in one hand in the rear and an umbrella in the other, while the front pair of hands are in anjali posture. If he is carrying Vishnu, the rear hands provide the support for Vishnu's feet. According to the text Silparatna, states Rao, Garuda is best depicted with only two hands and with four bands of colors: "golden yellow color from feet to knees, white from knees to navel, scarlet from navel to neck, black above the neck", his hands, recommends the text, should be in abhaya posture. In Sritatvanidhi text, the recommended iconography for Garuda is a kneeling figure, who wears one or more serpents, pointed bird-beak like nose, his two hands in namaste posture; this style is found in Hindu temples dedicated to Vishnu. In some iconography, Garuda carries his two consorts by his side: Lakshmi and Bhūmi.
Garuda iconography is found in early temples of India, such as on the underside of the eave at Cave 3 entrance of the Badami cave temples. Garuda mythology is linked to that of Aruna – the charioteer of Surya. However, these Indian mythologies are inconsistent across the texts. Both and Garuda, developed from egg. According to one version, states George Williams, Kashyapa Prajapati's two wives Vinata and Kadru wanted to have children. Kashyapa granted them a boon. Kadru asked for one thousand Nāga sons, while Vinata wanted two, each equal to Kadru's thousand naga sons. Kashyapa blessed them, went away to a forest to meditate. Kadru gave birth to one thousand eggs, while Vinata gave birth to two eggs; these incubated for five hundred years, upon which Kadru's eggs broke open and out came her 1,000 sons. Vinata eager for her sons, impatiently broke one of the eggs from which emerged the formed Aruna, who looked radiant and reddish as the morning sun but not as bright as the midday sun. Aruna chided his mother, Vinata for her impatience since he was born without legs and warned her to not break open the second egg but wait.
Aruna left to become the charioteer of Surya, the sun god. Vinata waited, after many years the second egg hatched, Garuda was born. Garuda went to war with his step brothers, the Nagas; some myths present Garuda as so massive. The text Garuda Purana is named after him. Garuda is presented in the Mahabharata mythology as one who eats snake meat, such as the story about him planning to kill and eat Sumukha snake, where Indra attempts to intervene. Garudas are a race of birds who devour snakes in the epic; the Suparṇākhyāna, a late Vedic period poem considered to be among the "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," relates the legend of Garuda, provides the basis for a expanded version which appears within the Mahābhārata. Garuda's links to Vishnu – the Hindu god who fights injustice and destroys evil in his various avatars to preserve dharma, has made him an iconic symbol of king's duty and power, an insignia of royalty or dharma, his eagle-like form is shown either alone or with Vishnu
GE Capital
GE Capital is the financial services unit of the American multinational conglomerate General Electric. It provides commercial lending and leasing, as well as a range of financial services for commercial aviation and support for GE's industrial business units. In April 2015, GE announced its plan to create a simpler company by reducing the size of its financial businesses through the sale of most GE Capital assets. GE Capital’s verticals are now aligned with GE’s core industrial businesses – GE Capital Aviation Services, Energy Financial Services and GE Industrial Finance, which will include the Healthcare Equipment Finance business, Working Capital Solutions, other financing activities to develop lending and leasing products for the GE Store. GE Capital Aviation Services is a key financial partner to more than 245 customers in 75 countries, providing aircraft leasing, financing and consulting in every sector of the industry. GE Energy Financial Services provides underwriting capabilities for Power and Oil+Gas infrastructure to meet rising demand and sustainability imperatives.
GE Capital's new Industrial Finance organization serves customers in Healthcare, Distributed Power, Marine industries and Municipalities around the world. On July 8, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated GE Capital as a "systemically important financial institution", which makes it subject to oversight by the Federal Reserve; as of 2014, GE Capital had 35,000+ employees worldwide, operating in more than 40 countries, with total assets of US$499 billion. It was rated AA+ with stable outlook by S&P in 2012. GE Capital's subsidiaries operate under the GE Money brand. On April 10, 2015, Jeffrey R. Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, announced that GE would sell most of GE Capital over the next two years; the following areas were sold: GE Capital Sponsor Finance was sold to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation GE Capital Real Estate was sold to The Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo. The majority of GE Commercial Lending & Leasing was sold to Wells Fargo.
Operations in Germany and France were sold to Crédit Mutuel. Operations in Australia were sold to Sankaty Advisors. Mubadala GE Capital, a joint venture with Mubadala Development Company, was sold to MidCap Financial, a portfolio company of Apollo Management. GE Capital Rail Services was sold to First Union Rail, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, Marmon Group GE Capital Bank was sold to Goldman Sachs. GE Healthcare Finance Services was sold to Capital One. GE Capital Equity was sold to Ardian. GE Capital Transportation Finance was sold to BMO Financial Group. GE Capital Corporate Finance - Aircraft was sold to Global Jet Capital, a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, the Carlyle Group and GSO Capital Partners. GE Capital's Mexican equipment lending and leasing operations were sold to Linzor Capital Partners. GE Trailer Fleet Services was sold to Element Arval. GE Capital's Japanese capital finance, fleet service and vendor finance businesses were sold to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group GE Capital's American restaurant finance operations were sold to First Horizon National Corporation, Wintrust Financial and Sterling Bancorp.
Its hotel franchise operations were sold to Western Alliance Bancorp. Polish GE Money Bank S. A. was headquartered in Gdańsk prior to December 31, 2009. BPH SA is a Polish financial institution 89% owned by GE Money Bank, employing about 10,000 people. On 31 December 2009, Bank BPH merged with GE Money Bank Polska. After the merging of the two brands, GE's Capital's Polish headquarters are located in three cities: Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk. In October 2014, the bank's owner, General Electric, revealed. On April 1, 2016, it was revealed that GE had reached a deal to sell its majority stake in Bank BPH's core bank to Alior Bank, with this transaction GE will divest itself of the Core Bank while maintaining the Mortgage Bank and its US$3.9B of mortgages, which will be separated in a demerger from the non-mortgage based assets that will subsequently be merged into Alior Bank, GE will keep BPH TFI, the bank’s asset management business. In Australia, the GE Money brand encompassed the GE Consumer Finance and GE Capital Finance businesses.
The company provided car, boat and consolidation loans, credit cards and insurance. At the end of 2002 to beginning of 2003 GE purchased the Australian Guarantee Corporation business from Westpac Banking Corporation, as a result, AGC Automotive Finance became GE Automotive Finance, former retail finance competitor, AGC Creditline, became known as GE CreditLine. GE Consumer Finance controlled most credit cards and loans and has a strategic partnership with Coles Group to operate the Coles Group Source MasterCard. GE Consumer Finance governs the GE Creditline, GO MasterCard, gem Visa and Buyer's Edge cards which all offer interest-free terms at participating retailers. GE Finance had strategic financial relations with Myer, Australia's largest department store. In 2006 and 2007 Myer signed contracts with GE to issue and govern both the new Myer Card and the Myer Visa Card. GE was the issuer of the old red ColesMyer card, no longer an acceptable method of payment of Myer stores, this is following the decision of Myer being disenfranchised from the ColesMyer group.
In 2004, GE Capital Finance purchased the Wizard Home Loans business. On the 24th of October 2008, GE Money announced that it will cease offering motor finance in Australia and Ne
Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank was established on 30 January 1907 by royal charter as the first Thai bank. According to information filed with the Bank of Thailand, SCB was Thailand's largest commercial bank, as of 31 December 2018. King Vajiralongkorn is the largest single shareholder. SCB was founded as the "Book Club" on 4 October 1904 by Prince Jayanta Mongkol, a brother of King Chulalongkorn, convinced that the time was ripe for Siam to have its own banking system to help foster the country's economic development, rather than rely on foreign banks operating branches in the country; the name "Book Club" was chosen in an effort to keep the project sub rosa as it was something of an experiment. After the success of the "Book Club", King Chulalongkorn granted royal approval for it to operate as a commercial bank under the name "The Siam Commercial Bank" on 30 January 1907. SCB opened its headquarters in Bangkok's Talat Noi District in 1910. In 1911, it was granted approval to display the royal Garuda symbol as a royal warrant by King Vajiravudh.
1912: SCB opened its first branch in the Ratchawong Pier area of Sampeng District. 1920: SCB opened its first regional branch in Thung Song District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. 1927–1930: SCB established its first branches in the northern region in Chiang Mai and Lampang. 1939: SCB changed its name to "Siam Commercial Bank" in English, "Thanakarn Thai Panich" in Thai. 1971: SCBs head office moved from Talad Noi District to Petchburi Road to support the growth of its operations. 1983: SCB introduced Thailand's first ATMs in 1983. and established the Thai Bank Museum 1993: SCB registered as a public company and was henceforth known as "The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited". 1996: SCB moved its headquarters to SCB Park Plaza on Ratchadaphisek Road in the Jatujak District of Bangkok and recorded assets of over 500 billion baht. 2007: SCB celebrated its 100th anniversary. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over celebrations at SCB headquarters. 2017: SCB became the first sleeve sponsor of English Premier League club Leicester City, owned by a Thai businessman close to the Thai royal family.
SCB's total market capitalization as of 31 December 2018 was 453,813 million baht. As of April 2018, SCB had 1,154 branches, it plans to reduce the number of branches to 400 by 2020. The workforce is to be reduced from 27,000 to 15,000; as of 2013 it had 9,142 ATMs. According to SCB, "The Bank provides a full range of financial services, including corporate and personal lending and wholesale banking, foreign currency operations, international trade financing, cash management, custodial services and charge card services and investment banking services, through its head office and its extensive branch network." SCB's credit worthiness is rated by Fitch Ratings, Moody's, S&P. Mr Anand Panyarachun, Chairman of the Board Dr Vichit Suraphongchai, Chairman of the Executive Committee Mr Arthid Nanthawithaya, Chief Executive Officer
Bank of China
Bank of China is one of the four biggest state-owned commercial banks in China. Bank of China is separate from its subsidiary Bank of China, although they maintain close relations in management and administration and co-operate in several areas including reselling BOC's insurance and securities services, it was founded in 1912 by the Republican government to replace the Daqing Bank. It is the oldest bank in mainland China still in existence. From its establishment until 1942, it issued banknotes on behalf of the Government along with the "Big Four" banks of the period: the Farmers Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Central Bank of the Republic of China, its headquarters are in Beijing. As of 31 December 2009, it was the second largest lender in China overall, the 5th largest bank in the world by market capitalization value; as of end 2017, it was the fourth largest bank in the world in terms of assets, ranked after the other 3 Chinese banks. The Bank of China's history began in 1905, when the Qing government established Daqing Hubu Bank in Beijing, in 1908 renamed to Daqing Bank.
When the Republic of China was established in 1912, it was further renamed as Bank of China by President Sun Yat-sen's government, adding a new role of the central bank. After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the Bank of China split into two operations. Part of the bank relocated to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government, was privatized in 1971 to become the International Commercial Bank of China. In 2002, it merged with Chiao Tung Bank to become the Mega International Commercial Bank; the Mainland operation is the current entity known as the Bank of China. It is the second largest lender in China overall, the fifth largest bank in the world by market capitalization value. Once 100% owned by the central government, via China Central Huijin and National Council for Social Security Fund, an Initial public offering of its shares took place in June 2006, the free float is at present over 26%. In the Forbes Global 2000 it ranked as the 4th-largest company in the world, it is the most globally-active of China's banks, with branches on every inhabited continent.
Outside of mainland China, BOC operates in 27 countries and areas including Australia, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, United States, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Zambia, South Africa, a branch office in the Cayman Islands. In December 2010, the Bank of China New York branch began offering renminbi products for Americans, it was the first major Chinese bank. Although it is present in the above countries/territories, its operations outside China accounted for less than 4% of the activity of the bank by both profits and assets. Mainland China accounts for 60% of the bank by profits and 76% by assets as at December 2005. 1917: BOC opened a branch in Hong Kong. 1929: BOC opened its first overseas branch in London. The branch managed the government's foreign debt, became a center for the bank's management of its foreign exchange, acted as an intermediary for China's international trade. 1931: BOC opened a branch in Osaka. 1936: BOC opened a branch in Singapore to handle remittances to China of overseas Chinese.
It opened an agency in New York. 1937: On the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, Japanese forces blockaded China's major ports. BOC opened a number of branches in Batavia, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Rangoon and Calcutta to facilitate the gathering of remittances and the flow of military supplies, it opened sub-agencies in Surabaya, Dabo, Batu Pahat, Mandalay, Lashio and Seremban. 1941-1942: The Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia forced BOC to close all overseas its branches, sub-branches and sub-agencies, except London, New York and Bombay. In 1942, it manages to set up six new overseas branches, such as in Sydney and Havana, Karachi. 1946: BOC reopened its branches and agencies in Hong Kong, Haiphong, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. It moved the Hanoi agency to Saigon. At the suggestion of the Allied Forces Headquarters, it liquidated the branch in Osaka and opened a sub-branch in Tokyo. 1947: BOC opened agencies in Bangkok and Tokyo. 1950: After victory of Communist forces in the civil war, some branches of Bank of China joined the bank headquartered in Beijing, while others opted to remain with the Bank of China headquartered in Taipei.
In 1971, this bank took the name International Commercial Bank of China. 1963: The Burmese government nationalized all banks and domestic, including the Bank of China's Rangoon branch. 1971: The Bank of China transferred its two branches in Karachi and Chittagong to the National Bank of Pakistan. 1975: The Republic of South Vietnam nationalized the Bank of China's branch in Saigon and the Khmer Rouge government nationalized its Phnom Penh branch. 1979: BOC opened a branch in Luxembourg, which became its European headquarters through the 1990s. 1981: BOC opened a branch in New York. 1985: BOC opened a branch in Paris 1987: BOC became an ordinary member of the LBMA. 1992: BOC opens a representative office in Toronto. 1993: Bank of China established to conduct business in Canada as a Schedule II bank. 2001: Kwangtung Provincial Bank was closed and m
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep; the city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand, has a population of over eight million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over fourteen million people lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok the nation's primate city dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance. Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which grew and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernization of Siam renamed Thailand, during the late-19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West; the city was at the centre of Thailand's political struggles throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule, underwent numerous coups and several uprisings.
The city grew during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailand's politics, education and modern society. The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok; the city is now a regional force in business. It is an international hub for transport and health care, has emerged as a centre for the arts and entertainment; the city is known for cultural landmarks, as well as its red-light districts. The Grand Palace and Buddhist temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho stand in contrast with other tourist attractions such as the nightlife scenes of Khaosan Road and Patpong. Bangkok is among the world's top tourist destinations, has been named the world's most visited city in several rankings. Bangkok's rapid growth coupled with little urban planning has resulted in a haphazard cityscape and inadequate infrastructure. An inadequate road network, despite an extensive expressway network, together with substantial private car usage, have led to chronic and crippling traffic congestion, which caused severe air pollution in the 1990s.
The city has since turned to public transport in an attempt to solve the problem. Five rapid transit lines are now in operation, with more systems under construction or planned by the national government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration; the history of Bangkok dates at least back to the early 15th century, when it was a village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, under the rule of Ayutthaya. Because of its strategic location near the mouth of the river, the town increased in importance. Bangkok served as a customs outpost with forts on both sides of the river, was the site of a siege in 1688 in which the French were expelled from Siam. After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Empire in 1767, the newly crowned King Taksin established his capital at the town, which became the base of the Thonburi Kingdom. In 1782, King Phutthayotfa Chulalok succeeded Taksin, moved the capital to the eastern bank's Rattanakosin Island, thus founding the Rattanakosin Kingdom; the City Pillar was erected on 21 April 1782, regarded as the date of foundation of the present city.
Bangkok's economy expanded through international trade, first with China with Western merchants returning in the early to-mid 19th century. As the capital, Bangkok was the centre of Siam's modernization as it faced pressure from Western powers in the late-19th century; the reigns of Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn saw the introduction of the steam engine, printing press, rail transport and utilities infrastructure in the city, as well as formal education and healthcare. Bangkok became the centre stage for power struggles between the military and political elite as the country abolished absolute monarchy in 1932. Allied with Japan in World War II, it was subjected to Allied bombing, but grew in the post-war period as a result of US aid and government-sponsored investment. Bangkok's role as a US military R&R destination boosted its tourism industry as well as establishing it as a sex tourism destination. Disproportionate urban development led to increasing income inequalities and migration from rural areas into Bangkok.
Following the US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, Japanese businesses took over as leaders in investment, the expansion of export-oriented manufacturing led to growth of the financial market in Bangkok. Rapid growth of the city continued through the 1980s and early 1990s, until it was stalled by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. By many public and social issues had emerged, among them the strain on infrastructure reflected in the city's notorious traffic jams. Bangkok's role as the nation's political stage continues to be seen in strings of popular protests, from the student uprisings in 1973 and 1976, anti-military demonstrations in 1992, successive anti-government demonstrations by opposing groups from 2008 on. Administration of the city was first formalized by King Chulalongkorn in 1906, with the establishment of Monthon Krung Thep Phra Maha Nakhon as a national subdivision. In 1915 the monthon was split into several provinces, the administrative boundaries of which have since further changed.
The city in its current form was created in 1972 with the formation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, following the merger of Phra Nakhon Province on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya and Thonburi Province on the west during the previous year. The origin of th
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational banking and financial services holding company. It is the 7th largest bank in the world, the largest in Europe, with total assets of US$2.558 trillion. HSBC traces its origin to a hong in Hong Kong, its present form was established in London by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company in 1991; the origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name is derived from the initials of the Shanghai Banking Corporation; the company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as its "home markets". HSBC has around 3,900 offices in 67 countries and territories across Africa, Oceania, North America, South America, around 38 million customers; as of 2014, it was the world's sixth-largest public company, according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. HSBC is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Global Private Banking.
HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it had a market capitalisation of £102.7 billion, the second-largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, after Royal Dutch Shell. It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris, the Bermuda Stock Exchange. In February 2015, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks; the ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with other clients. The BBC reported that HSBC had put pressure on media not to report about the controversy, with British newspaper The Guardian claiming HSBC advertising had been put "on pause" after The Guardian's coverage of the matter. Peter Oborne, chief political commentator at The Daily Telegraph, resigned from the paper. In 2016, HSBC was sued by Mexican families involved in deaths by organized-crime gangs for processing funds for the Sinaloa cartel.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was founded by Scotsman Thomas Sutherland in the then-British colony of Hong Kong on 3 March 1865, in Shanghai a month benefiting from the start of trading into China, including opium trading. It was formally incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 14 August 1866. In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. On 6 October 1989, it was renamed by the Legislative Council, by an amendment to its governing ordinance made in 1929, to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, became registered as a regulated bank with the Banking Commissioner of the Government of Hong Kong. HSBC Holdings plc incorporated in England and Wales, in the United Kingdom, as Vernat Trading Company Limited on 1 January 1959 and renamed Vernat Eastern Agencies Limited in the same year, was by a non-trading, dormant shelf company under a different, nominal name, when it completed its transformation on 25 March 1991 into the parent holding company to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited now as a subsidiary, in preparation for its purchase of the UK-based Midland Bank and the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China.
HSBC Holdings' acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC a substantial market presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the takeover conditions for the acquisition, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1 billion in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600 million in May 1997. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3 billion. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6 billion. In July 2001 HSBC bought an insolvent Turkish bank. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc. through a new subsidiary and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. would purchase a portion of Andersen's tax practice.
The new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals. In August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1 billion. In November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of John Bond, it spent £9 billion to acquire Household Finance Corporation, a US credit card issuer and subprime lender. In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude, the deal of the first decade of the 21st century". Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the United States; the new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London opened in April 2003. In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8 million. In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai. In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired
฿154.26 billion (2018)
Media related to Bangkok Bank at Wikimedia Commons
