There are Chartered Banks. I cannot say that any copies of the Charters of the three Chartered Banks are on record, but it may, I think, be taken for granted that they are all framed on the lines laid down in the Colonial Instructions, on which also the local Ordinance regulating the Hong and Shanghai Bank is modelled. All these Banks are allowed to circulate notes to an amount not exceeding paid-up capital, on keeping of the amount of note circulation in reserve in specie. This regulation has been always enforced here by monthly actual inspections of the Bank's Premises. It is a somewhat weak point in the system that we have to take the Bank's word for what the circulation of notes is in each case, but I am not aware that any inconvenience has ever happened from this, and the specie reserve is generally well in excess of the amount required.
3. Of these four Banks there can be little doubt that the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank is the most prosperous. An entirely local company, it is doing a good business, and, having audited its accounts last year, I have little hesitation in saying that it occupies a very strong position.
4. The Chartered Bank of India comes next in stability, if the market...
Page 53