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THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
N
00023
COPY
-B23
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
Hong Kong.
29th October 1946
My dear Follows,
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2
cms
Ref.:
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
CO 537/1374
restrictions. Further information is given in the enclosed Terms and Conditions of supply of National Archives' leaflet. Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archives' terms and conditions and that your use of it may be subject to copyright
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As it has been often suggested that debtors of the Bank during the Japanese occupation of the Colony were compelled to pay their overdrafts and loans it can now be confidently stated that after the lapse of a year in the course of which debtors have been interviewed or given an opportunity to explain by correspondence, not a single case has been discovered where there was any coercion.
The enclosed copies of the correspondence with Mr. R.A. Dastur of Hong Kong is so typical of the ordinary course followed, of the s tandard form of application for payment by the Liquidators, of a purely voluntary payment at a later date, and finally of a plea of duress when asked by the Bank to pay, that it is felt that you should see it for yourself.
At the outbreak of the war Mr. Dastur owed the Bank HK.1,076,107.43. The whole of this amount was paid off in Military Yen by instalments between November 30,1943, and May 11,1944. The Liquidator wrote to him on August 6th 1943 a stereotyped letter in which he was "requested" to make arrangements to repay the loan account with interest. On August 11 Mr. Dastur replied pleading that he was penniless and unable to pay. On October 6 the Liquidator replied to
an application by Mr. Dastur in the matter of his overdraft stating the amount due in respect of principal and interest. On March 22 1944, Mr. Dastur who dated his letter "Showa 19th year" respectfully informed the Liquidator that according to his desire he had been able to pay the greater part of his debt by selling his shares and humbly requested sympathetic and favourable consideration in the matter of a waiver of the interest.
The Liquidator's letter of May 15 1944 shows that by that date Mr. Dastur had repaid his overdraft in full and that all his shares held by the Bank had been released. The letter itself refers only to shares in one Company, but Mr. Dastur had in fact obtained the release of shares to the pre-war value of over HK.2,200,000.
When after the re-occupation of Hong Kong the Bank, on January 2,1946, wrote to Dr. Dastur in the matter of his overdraft, he replied that he had been compelled to pay the Liquidator.
Mr. Dastur admits that his statement was untrue His account shows that the greater part of his debt was paid in instalments of Military Yen 45,000 and 90,000. He explained that each instalment of M.Y.45,000 represented the proceeds of the sale of one share in the Union Insurance Society of Canton. It appears therefore that in February, March and April 1944 one share in the Society which stood on December 6 1941 at HK.450 realised M.Y.45,000 in other words for every share valued at $450 in 1941 he was able to repay his overdraft to the extent of HKS.180,000. This transaction serves as one concrete example of the devaluation of the Yen at that period.
Yours sincerely,
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(signed)
The Hon. Mr. C.G.S. Follows, C.M.G. Colonial Secretariat, Hong Kong.
A. MORSE
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