500
Helmas
HAR
circulation, whilst the Notes of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank must be in the equivalent of $5 the multiples thereof, and are payable as well at the branches at which they are issued as at the principal Establishments or in the currency of Hongkong. Independant, too, of the Bullion kept for safety at the Branches a reserve equal to the general issue must also be kept at Hongkong.
6.
This place is at an unfair advantage compared with other local Banks, and I would, therefore, suggest to Your Lordship the expediency of such changes in the Law as will appropriate the portions of the Bank Establishments in Hongkong, China and Japan - that is :-
by causing the branch notes of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank to be payable at the branches only in local currency; by making it compulsory to keep a bullion reserve at each branch proportioned to its Note circulation; by relieving the principal Establishment of any liabilities to hold a reserve in excess of its own bullion "Notes; and by requiring, as suggested by Mr. Gring, that the Note and