In many ways, the history of HSBC as a premier banking institution has mirrored our own as a nation. When its founding bureau, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, was first established in Hong Kong circa 1865, it took only 22 days for the bank to appoint an agent in Manila in the personage of Russell Sturgis and Co, a leading merchant house. While this unfortunately went bust after ten years, HSBC’s directors were not perturbed. In November of the same year, they set up an office in Binondo, the country’s centre of commerce at the time.
From financing
