Banks

Births, marriages and deaths

A registry of 99 banks that worked in India, with the dates the record gives for their founding, merger, nationalisation or failure.

Obituaries

24 failures, suspensions and liquidations

1832

Bank of Hindostan

Failed

Failure of the Calcutta house that RBI's museum table calls the progenitor of the Bank of Bengal.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: Reserve Bank of India, 'The Advent of Modern Banking in India, 1720 to 1850s' (RBI Monetary Museum page, table 'Established / Failed (F) or Merged (M)') (rbi.org.in)

1848

Union Bank of Calcutta

Failed

Failure of the Union Bank, at the time the Bank of Bengal's principal local rival.

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Amiya Kumar Bagchi, The Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 1 (Oxford University Press for the State Bank of India) (archive.org)

1866

Agra and Masterman's Bank

Suspended

The bank suspended payment following the panic that began with Overend Gurney's closure.

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Wikipedia, 'Agra Bank' (accessed 2026-09-29), citing Stuart Muirhead and Edwin Green, Crisis Banking in the East (Ashgate, 1996) - the monograph itself was NOT seen (en.wikipedia.org)

1866

Bank of Bombay (old)

Liquidated

A director rejoining the board on 10 December 1866 told the Commission that 'there was no new business done after that; the Bank was quite in liquidation, and all that you were employed upon was to get in old debts'.

no new business; recovery of old debts only

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: Minutes of Evidence taken in England and Proceedings there, before Commissioners appointed to inquire into the affairs of the Bank of Bombay (Bombay Bank Commission), 1869 (archive.org)

1866

Commercial Bank of India

Failed

Failure of the Bombay bank in the same crisis.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: Reserve Bank of India, 'The Advent of Modern Banking in India, 1720 to 1850s' (RBI Monetary Museum page, table 'Established / Failed (F) or Merged (M)') (rbi.org.in)

1866

Overend, Gurney and Company

Failed

The London discount house closed, precipitating the panic of May 1866.

1900

Agra Bank

Liquidated

Final liquidation of the Agra Bank, the Indian successor of Agra and Masterman's.

1913

(bank at Lahore, unnamed)

Failed

A bank failure at Lahore in September 1913, recorded by Muranjan as the opening of the sequence that ended with the Credit Bank and the Specie Bank. Bank not named in the passage read; not to be guessed at.

UnconfirmedPeer-reviewed. Source: MURANJAN, Modern Banking in India, 3rd edn 1952, ch. 21

1913

Amritsar Bank

Failed

Closed within nine days of the People's Bank. Authorised capital Rs 5 lakh, paid-up Rs 1.76 lakh, reserves Rs 75,000, deposits about Rs 30 lakh.

deposits ~Rs 30 lakh

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Bagchi, Vol. 2, ch. 17, p. 493

1913

Credit Bank of India

Failed

The Credit Bank of India, Bombay, collapsed on 1 November 1913. Its manager, Jaffer Joosab, admitted at trial that about Rs 5 lakh out of roughly Rs 7 lakh shown as current accounts "was made up of mere paper entries; Mistry taught me this window-dressing and said it was not illegal and many banks were doing it. The account and balance-sheets were prepared by my staff under instructions from the auditor."

~Rs 5 lakh of window-dressed current accounts

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Muranjan, Modern Banking in India, p. 301

1913

Indian Specie Bank, Bombay

Failed

Failure of the only purely Indian bank with a London branch

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: STBI1926 1915 issue; BAN1940

1913

Indian joint-stock banks

Failed

"Many of these have not yet recovered from the horrible catastrophes of 1913 and the following years, although some of them have successfully weathered all storms"

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: SHIRRAS1920 p.386

1913

Jehangir Byramjee & Co. (Bombay pearl merchants)

Failed

The largest pearl merchants in Bombay failed with an estimated liability of Rs 1 crore.

Rs 1 crore liability

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Amiya Kumar Bagchi, The Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 2, ch. 17, p. 501 (archive.org)

1913

People's Bank of India (Lahore)

Failed

Failure of the People's Bank began the crisis in northern and western India. Deposits in the Punjab banks totalled about Rs 300 lakh, of which the People's Bank alone accounted for Rs 126 lakh. The agent of the Bank of Bengal on special duty at Lahore (G. P. Symes Scutt, author of the history of the Bank of Bengal) found that the deposits of the People's Bank and the Amritsar Bank "were to a very large extent utilized in financing industrial and similar concerns under the control of the same management group which directed the operations of the two banks. This management group 'individually waxed rich' whilst the concerns under their control became more and more involved."

deposits Rs 126 lakh

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Bagchi, Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 2, ch. 17, pp. 493, 496

1913

People's Bank of India, Lahore

Failed

Failure of the People's Bank, the trigger of the 1913 banking crisis in Northern and Western India

72 branches; ~Rs 1.25 crore of deposits (per BAN1940)

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: BAN1940; STBI1926 1915 issue

1913

all Indian joint-stock banks (all-India and by State)

Failed

RBI BMS 1954 Table 22, "Bank Failures, Number and Capital, All-India and by State, Annual, 1913–1951", printed p.279, recovered as a page image. Columns are Number of banks / Authorised / Subscribed / Paid-up in rupees, all-India and then by State, with the footnote "Relating to Indian Unions from August 16, 1947"

annual counts and capital, 1913–1951

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: RBI, Banking and Monetary Statistics of India (1954), Table 22, printed p.279 = (archive.org)

1914

Deutsche-Asiatische Bank

Liquidated

Went into liquidation after the outbreak of war; excluded from the exchange-bank returns from 1914

ReportedOfficial record. Source: SA1924 Table 138 footnote (a)

1915

Amritsar National Banking Company

Liquidated

The only failure of any importance in 1915

paid-up Rs 1,07,980; deposits Rs 1,07,658

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: STBI1926` 1916 issue

1920

Alliance Bank of Simla, and other Indian joint-stock banks

Failed

The slump of 1920-21 and the wave of Indian joint-stock bank failures that followed: not found in the sources opened for this file. Shirras (1920) and Jevons (1922) were written too early or do not tabulate failures

UnconfirmedOfficial record.

1923

Alliance Bank of Simla

Failed

Suspension of payment. The bank "fell on evil days largely on account of the imprudence of their London Agents, Boulton Bros.", who were unable to return a deposit of Rs 150 lakh they held from the bank.

Rs 150 lakh deposit; securities held for it amounted to a mere Rs 50 lakh

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: Muranjan, Modern Banking in India, p. 314

1923

Alliance Bank of Simla

Failed

The most important failure of the post-war period, with "far-reaching and disastrous consequences"

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: JB1945; ICBEC1931; STBI1926 1917 issue

1938

Travancore National and Quilon Bank

Suspended

Suspended payment after an unprecedented run that began in April 1938

Deposits Rs 3.5 crore; 75 branches

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: RBIH1 ch. 6

1945

Indian banks (all)

Failed

Number of bank failures and paid-up capital of failed banks: 1945, 27 banks, Rs 5 lakh; 1946, 27, Rs 9 lakh; 1947, 37, Rs 87 lakh; 1948, 45, Rs 179 lakh; 1949, 53, Rs 117 lakh; 1950, 45, Rs 140 lakh; 1951, 62, Rs 62 lakh. For 1946–50 together, 207 banks failed with total paid-up capital of Rs 533 lakh, against 365 banks and Rs 68 lakh in the war years.

207 banks, Rs 533 lakh paid-up capital, 1946–50

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: RBI, History of the Reserve Bank of India, Vol. I, p. 730

1949

Exchange Bank of India and Africa

Failed

A run on the bank's foreign branches; a major portion of its advances "was locked up in airline interests"; the RBI sanctioned Rs 85 lakh between February and April 1949. The bank suspended payment in May 1949 and was ordered to be wound up in July 1949.

Rs 85 lakh of RBI advances

VerifiedOfficial record. Source: RBI, History of the Reserve Bank of India, Vol. I, pp. 735–736; ch. 15

Foundings, mergers and nationalisations

30 notices

1806Bank of Calcutta Founded Opened for business at Calcutta, the first of the three presidency banks; subscriptions were called in instalments of Sicca Rs 2,500 each from 1 May 1806.
1809Bank of Bengal Chartered The directors received the charter of incorporation from the Governor General in Council, took the oaths of office and resolved that the charter be read; the Bank of Calcutta's staff were taken over.
1829Union Bank of Calcutta Founded Established in Calcutta in the aftermath of the indigo crisis; the Bank of Bengal's chief domestic rival for roughly a decade.
1839Bank of Bengal Chartered A new charter, Act VI of 1839, expanded the Bank of Bengal's capital base and became the model for the Bombay and Madras charters.
1840Bank of Bombay Chartered Act III of 1840 (Bombay) granted a charter to the Bank of Bombay; the Act required the capital (between Rs 50 and Rs 56 lakh) to be fully paid up before incorporation and fixed 1 April as the date of the final call.
1840Bank of Bombay Founded Opened for business; office at 23 Rampart Row, bought from Jehangir Nusserwanjee Wadia (a house later occupied by Ralli Brothers).
1843Bank of Madras Founded Opened for business, replacing the Government Bank at Madras.
1863Bank of Bombay Chartered Act X of 1863 (Bombay), 'An Act for the Re-incorporation and Re-constitution of the Bank of Bombay', replaced Acts III of 1840 and XXI of 1854.
1864Agra and Masterman's Bank Merged The Agra and United Service Bank took over the London private partnership of Masterman, Peters, Mildred and Company and renamed itself Agra and Masterman's Bank.
1867New Bank of Bombay, Limited Founded Formation of the limited-liability successor bank, in which the Government of Bombay was authorised to take shares.
1916Alliance Bank of Simla Merged Absorbed the Delhi and London Bank, and became a member of the Exchange Banks Association while remaining an Indian joint-stock bank
1920Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay, Bank of Madras Merged The three presidency banks amalgamated into the Imperial Bank of India by Act XLVII of 1920. Primary documents on the amalgamation are now located: the Select Committee report on the Imperial Bank of India Bill (1924), the Joint Committee reports (1927, 1933), and the government-side bank files IOR/L/F/7 Collection 24 and IOR/L/F/7/213 (government agreements with the Presidency Banks)
1920Imperial Bank of India Chartered Imperial Bank of India Act passed in the Imperial Legislative Council
1920New exchange-bank branches Founded National Bank of South Africa, Imperial Bank of Persia, P&O Banking Corporation and Banco Nacional Ultramarino all opened branches in India
1921Bank of Bengal Merged Ceased to exist as a separate bank; absorbed into the Imperial Bank of India
1921Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay, Bank of Madras → Imperial Bank of India Merged "With effect from 27th January 1921, the three Presidency Banks of Bengal, Bombay and Madras were amalgamated and formed into the Imperial Bank of India"
1921Bank of Bombay Merged Ceased to exist as a separate bank; absorbed into the Imperial Bank of India
1921Bank of Madras Merged Ceased to exist as a separate bank; absorbed into the Imperial Bank of India
1921Imperial Bank of India Merged The Imperial Bank of India took over the three Presidency Banks of Bengal, Bombay and Madras
1921Imperial Bank of India Merged The Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras were amalgamated into the Imperial Bank of India, which also took over the Government's banking business.
1925People's Bank of Northern India, Ltd Founded Incorporated April 1925
1934Reserve Bank of India Founded RBI BMS 1954 is the standard statistical record of the Bank's first two decades; the IOR holds the Financial Department's Reserve Bank run at IOR/L/F/7 Collection 32 and the RBI's own printed summaries at IOR/L/F/5/72–75
1935Reserve Bank of India Founded The Bank commenced business; entire share capital allotted to the public except shares of nominal value Rs 2.2 lakhs assigned to the Central Government under s.4(8)
1935Reserve Bank of India Founded The Bank was formally inaugurated on Monday 1 April 1935
1937Travancore National and Quilon Bank Merged The Travancore National Bank (est. 1912) and the Quilon Bank (est. 1919) amalgamated
1941Hyderabad State Bank Founded The central bank of Hyderabad State, set up by the Nizam's Government; it managed the state's Hali Sicca note issue, acted as the state's banker and (in 1947-48) held and operated the Government of Hyderabad's London accounts. It became State Bank of Hyderabad in 1956 and merged into the State Bank of India in 2017
1949Reserve Bank of India Nationalised The Reserve Bank of India is nationalised, converting it from a shareholders' institution into a State-owned body. Deshmukh, the Governor, is credited by the RBI's own history with managing the transition
1949Reserve Bank of India Nationalised State ownership under the Reserve Bank (Transfer to Public Ownership) Act 1948; compensation Rs 118-10 per share on 4.98 lakh shares
1949Reserve Bank of India Nationalised Bank transformed into a state-owned institution, 13 years and 9 months after establishment
1955Imperial Bank of India Nationalised The Imperial Bank was taken over and became the State Bank of India (later context; out of the 1921–39 scope)

The registry

CSV

99 rows

				Headquarters	Ownership	Source
Agra Bank	Joint stock	1833	1900	Agra / London	Chartered in London, managed through an agency in India	ReportedRBIH1 ch. 1
Agra Bank (Agra and United Service Bank; later Agra and Masterman's)	Exchange	1833	1900	Agra, then Calcutta, then London	London-registered joint-stock company after 1857; no Government shareholding found	ReportedWikipedia, 'Agra Bank' (accessed 2026-09-29), citing Stuart Muirhead and Edwin Green, Crisis Banking in the East (Ashgate, 1996) - the monograph itself was NOT seen (en.wikipedia.org)
Allahabad Bank	Joint stock	1865		Allahabad	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926, issue for 1917, introductory memorandum
Allahabad Union Bank	Joint stock	1904	1924	Allahabad	Indian joint-stock	ReportedMuranjan, p. 292 n. 2
Alliance Bank of Simla	Joint stock	1874	1923	Simla	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1917 issue; ICBEC1931 § (bank-failure chapter); JB1945
American Express Company	Exchange			New York	US joint-stock	VerifiedICBEC1931 §31, §42
American Express Company Incorporated	Exchange	1850		New York	US corporation; second of the two tourist-traffic banks in the 1931 Committee's count	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, paras. 31, 422; Statistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10
Amritsar Bank	Joint stock		1913	Amritsar / Lahore	Indian joint-stock; Lala Harkishen Lal interested	ReportedMuranjan, p. 306; Bagchi, Vol. 2, p. 493
Amritsar National Banking Company	Joint stock		1915	Amritsar	Indian joint-stock	VerifiedSTBI1926 1916 issue
Banco Nacional Ultramarino	Exchange	1864		Lisbon	Portuguese state-linked bank; CBEC 1931 lists it among the exchange banks in India. This is the "one in Portugal" of CBEC para. 422	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, paras. 31 and 422
Bank of Baroda	Joint stock	1908		Baroda	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders; registered in a princely state	VerifiedICBEC1931 ch. II; BMS1954 Table 26
Bank of Bengal	Presidency	1809	1921	Calcutta	East India Company held 100 of the 500 shares of Sicca Rs 10,000 (20 per cent) at incorporation in 1809. By 1876 the Government of India held 2,200 Rs 1,000 shares (Rs 22 lakh, 10 per cent of the Rs 220 lakh capital) and appointed some directors; it sold out in 1876.	VerifiedG. P. Symes Scutt, The History of the Bank of Bengal: an epitome of a hundred years of banking in India (Calcutta, 1904) (archive.org)
Bank of Bombay	Presidency	1840	1921	Bombay	Private shareholders. The Government of Bombay subscribed Rs 3 lakh and appointed three of nine directors under the 1840 charter; the 1868 New Bank of Bombay, Limited had a Government Inspector, not Government Directors; the Bank of Bombay reconstituted under the Presidency Banks Act 1876 had no Government shareholding, and a salaried Government officer could sit as director only if specially authorised by the Governor General in Council (s.27)	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 1; BMS1954 Sec. I hist. intro.; The Presidency Banks Act, 1876 (Act XI of 1876), preamble and s.27, in The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council from 1867 to 1876 (Calcutta, 1887), pp. 553-584 (archive.org)
Bank of Bombay (old)	Presidency	1840	1868	Bombay	Government of Bombay subscribed Rs 3 lakh of the Rs 52.25 lakh capital and appointed three of the nine directors	ReportedAmiya Kumar Bagchi, The Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 1 (Oxford University Press for the State Bank of India) (archive.org)
Bank of Bombay (reconstituted)	Presidency	1876	1921	Bombay	No Government shareholding after 1876; the Act required Government officers to be specially authorised before sitting as directors	VerifiedThe Presidency Banks Act, 1876 (Act XI of 1876), text printed in The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council from 1867 to 1876 (Calcutta, 1887), pp. 553-584 (archive.org)
Bank of Burma	Joint stock			Rangoon	Indian/Burmese joint-stock; the agency business of two directors, Mower and Clifford, dominated it	ReportedMuranjan, p. 308
Bank of Calcutta	Joint stock	1806	1809	Calcutta	Subscribers to a Sicca Rs 50 lakh stock; establishment approved by the Governor-General in Council and the East India Company Court of Directors	VerifiedG. P. Symes Scutt, The History of the Bank of Bengal: an epitome of a hundred years of banking in India (Calcutta, 1904) (archive.org)
Bank of Chettinad, Ltd	Joint stock	1929		Chettinad	Indian joint-stock registered under the Indian Companies Act to carry on Nattukottai Chettiar business	ReportedICBEC1931 §48
Bank of China	Exchange	1912		Shanghai	Chinese joint-stock bank. Balance sheets 1945–47 are in the 1947 Statistical Tables Table 10, in Chinese national dollars, and are wildly inflated by the Chinese inflation	VerifiedStatistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10 and Note 2
Bank of Communications	Exchange	1908		Shanghai	Chinese joint-stock bank; the second of the "two Chinese banks" in the 1947 exchange-bank table	VerifiedStatistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10
Bank of Hindostan	Joint stock		1832	Calcutta	Private European merchant/agency-house bank; not chartered; no Government subscription found	ReportedReserve Bank of India, 'The Advent of Modern Banking in India, 1720 to 1850s' (RBI Monetary Museum page, table 'Established / Failed (F) or Merged (M)') (rbi.org.in)
Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan	Exchange	1862	1866	London	London joint-stock bank; the 1866 London Gazette deed-of-arrangement notice names "John Ouseley, of the Bank of Hindustan, China, and Japan" as a trustee	ReportedThe Gazette (London) 11 Sep 1866 issue 23161 p. 5007
Bank of India	Joint stock	1906		Bombay	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedICBEC1931 ch. II
Bank of Madras	Presidency	1843	1921	Madras	Private shareholders; until 1876 the Government held shares (562.5 of Rs 1,000 in 1876) and appointed directors under Madras Act VI of 1866; under the Presidency Banks Act 1876 it sold those shares and surrendered the power to appoint directors	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 1; BMS1954 Sec. I hist. intro.; The Presidency Banks Act, 1876 (Act XI of 1876), preamble and s.27, in The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council from 1867 to 1876 (Calcutta, 1887), pp. 553-584 (archive.org)
Bank of Mysore	Joint stock	1913		Bangalore	Indian joint-stock; promoted with Mysore state support	ReportedICBEC1931 ch. II
Bank of Taiwan	Exchange			Formosa	Exchange bank; opened a branch in India during the war	ReportedSA1924 Table 138 footnote (d)
Bank of Taiwan (Taiwan Ginko)	Exchange	1899	1946	Taihoku (Taipei)	Japanese colonial bank; item (14) in the 1931 CBEC list	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31
Bank of Upper India, Meerut	Joint stock		1913	Meerut	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue
Bengal National Bank	Joint stock	1906	1927	Calcutta	Indian joint-stock, swadeshi foundation, "excluded all foreign element from the management"; the bank "became gradually a family concern"	ReportedMuranjan, pp. 301–303
Bombay Banking Company	Joint stock	1898	1914	Bombay	Indian joint-stock; a respected medical practitioner on the board gave it social standing	ReportedMuranjan, pp. 299–300
Central Bank of India	Joint stock	1911		Bombay	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedICBEC1931 ch. II
Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China	Exchange	1853	1969	Hatton-court, Threadneedle-street, London; from c.1900s 38 Bishopsgate, London	Joint-stock, London-registered, "based in and controlled from the City of London"; incorporated by Royal Charter 29 Dec 1853	VerifiedThe Gazette (London), issue 27888 suppl., 20 Feb 1906, p. 1319 (); The London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/CH01 via AIM25 (https://atom.aim25.com/index.php/chartered-bank-of-india-australia-and-china-corporate) (thegazette.co.uk)
Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China	Exchange	1853	1893	65, Old Broad-street, London (1886–1893); earlier 52, Threadneedle-street	London-registered by Royal Charter; returns of shareholders published annually in the London Gazette	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, p. 21; The Gazette (London) 24 Feb 1886 issue 25562 p. 913, 26 Feb 1890 issue 26027 p. 1114, 25 Feb 1891 issue 26138 p. 1076, 24 Feb 1892 issue 26261 p. 1085
Commercial Finance and Stock Exchange	Joint stock		1865	Bombay	Indian joint-stock concern, wound up in the 1865 collapse	ReportedWacha, A Financial Chapter, p. 218
Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris	Exchange	1848	1903	Paris (head office); 52, Threadneedle-street, London EC (1896–1906)	French bank; head office in Paris. London business carried on at 52 Threadneedle-street, Manchester and Liverpool	VerifiedBagchi Vol. 2, p. 70; The Gazette (London) 15 Feb 1896 issue 26710 p. 939 and 22 Feb 1906 issue 27888 suppl. p. 1320; Keynes (1913), p. 206
Cox & Co. (Cox and Co's Bank)	Exchange		1923	16, Charing Cross, S.W., London	Private partnership in London. CBEC 1931: "Lloyds Bank (which has taken over the business of Messrs Cox and Co., the latter having previously absorbed Messrs King, King and Co)"	VerifiedStatistical Tables relating to Banks in India 1915–1926, Table 12/15; The Gazette (London) 22 Feb 1906 issue 27888 suppl. p. 1321; Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31; Bagchi Vol. 2 p. 70
Credit Bank of India	Joint stock		1913	Bombay	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	ReportedSTBI1926 1915 issue; BAN1940
Crédit Lyonnais	Exchange	1863		Paris (head office); 40, Lombard-street, E.C., and 4, Cockspur-street, S.W., London	French joint-stock company. Shareholders not registered in London: the London Gazette return states simply "Joint Stock Company"	VerifiedThe Gazette (London) 22 Feb 1906 issue 27888 suppl. p. 1321
Deccan Bank	Joint stock	1890	1916		Indian joint-stock	ReportedMuranjan, p. 291 n. 1
Delhi Bank	Joint stock			Delhi	Private shareholders	ReportedSTBI1926 (failure tables 5, 12, 17)
Delhi and London Bank	Exchange	1844	1916	London	London-registered joint-stock bank; Keynes calls it "the oldest established of all" the exchange banks and notes it "has not shown the vitality or power of expansion of the others"	VerifiedKeynes (1913), p. 207; A.K. Bagchi, The Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 2: The Era of the Presidency Banks, 1876–1920, Sage, p. 70 () (archive.org)
Deutsche Bank (Berlin), London Agency	Exchange	1870	1914	4, George-yard, Lombard-street, London (1890–1914); an earlier address 61 Old Broad-street in 1895; 53 Cornhill in 1903; 17 St Helen's Place in 1914	German joint-stock bank; London business conducted as an agency. "All Shares are to Bearer, therefore the names and addresses of the holders are not known to us" (London Gazette, 1914)	VerifiedThe Gazette (London) 26 Feb 1890 issue 26027 p. 1115; 16 Feb 1895 issue 26599 p. 987; 25 Feb 1903 issue 27529 suppl. p. 1320; 20 Feb 1914 issue 28805 suppl. p. 1525; Bagchi Vol. 2, ch. 6 n. 14; Statistical Tables 1915–1926, Table 2 note (a): "Excluding the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank for which statistics have not been received"
Deutsche-Asiatische Bank	Exchange		1914	Berlin	German exchange bank with an Indian branch	ReportedSA1924 Table 138 footnote (a)
Direction der Disconto-Gesellschaft	Exchange	1851		Berlin (registered office); 53, Cornhill, E.C., London	German joint-stock company with a London office; deposits 1918-19 GBP 188,452,000, the second-largest German bank in the Statistical Tables world list	ReportedThe Gazette (London) 20 Feb 1914 issue 28805 suppl. p. 1525; Statistical Tables relating to Banks in India 1915–1926, App. IV
E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited (xx Wallace Brothers Sassoon Bank Limited)	Other	1928	1974	Head office Hong Kong; branches in the City of London and Manchester	Wholly owned subsidiary of E D Sassoon and Company Limited. "In 1967 the structure of the company was enlarged to admit new shareholders with the head office later moving to London."	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/ED01, ED02, ED09 via AIM25 () (atom.aim25.com)
East India Land Credit and Finance Co.	Agency house				Bombay financial company in the 1877 Bombay listing	ReportedBagchi Vol. 2, p. 102
Eastern Bank	Exchange			London	British joint-stock	ReportedICBEC1931 §31
Eastern Bank Limited	Exchange	1910	1957	5 Threadneedle Street, London (1921); 2 and 3 Crosby Square, Bishopsgate, London (1938)	"The Eastern Bank was founded in 1910 by the firm of E.D. Sassoon & Co. of Bombay. With the shift of the main business interests of the Sassoon group to London and Shanghai, the Eastern Bank also passed under British control." Keynes (1913): "established under the auspices of Messrs. E. D. Sassoon, while two important French Banks and Messrs. Brown, Shipley, and Co. are represented on the board of directors"	VerifiedA.K. Bagchi, Evolution of the State Bank of India, Vol. 2, pp. 70 and n. 31; Keynes (1913), p. 208 n. 1; The Gazette (London) 15 Jul 1921 issue 32391 p. 5654; 29 Mar 1938 issue 34497 p. 2122
Eastern Exchange Banks Association	Other			London	Association of the exchange banks	ReportedBS1920 para 2; SHIRRAS1920 p.386
Exchange Bank of India and Africa	Joint stock		1949	Bombay (Indian offices)	Indian joint-stock, scheduled	VerifiedRBI, History of the Reserve Bank of India, Vol. I, pp. 735–736
Exchange Banks' Association	Other			Calcutta / Bombay	Association of the exchange banks	ReportedICBEC1931 (index of witnesses)
Grindlays Bank	Exchange			London	British joint-stock	ReportedBMS1954 Table 26
Grindlays Bank (Grindlay & Co.)	Exchange	1826	1948	London; Grindlays Bank Ltd records at NatWest Group Heritage Hub (ref. GRI)	"The entire share capital of Grindlays Bank Limited (bankers and agents connected with India since 1826) was acquired from National Provincial Bank Limited in 1948"	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/NB01 and GR01 via AIM25 (); Bagchi Vol. 2, p. 70; Statistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10 (atom.aim25.com)
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation	Exchange	1864	1992	Hong Kong; London office at 9, Gracechurch-street, London EC	Hong Kong-registered corporation; London office is a branch, not the head office	VerifiedJ.M. Keynes, Indian Currency and Finance, Macmillan, 1913, pp. 206–217 (); Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31 (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.36647) (archive.org)
Imperial Bank of India	Imperial	1921	1955	Bombay (head office)	Joint-stock company owned by private shareholders; the three Presidency Banks' shareholders became its shareholders; Government appointed 10 of 16 Central Board members and could issue instructions, compel information and appoint auditors	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 1, pp. 24–26; ICBEC1931 ch. III; STBI1947
Imperial Bank of Persia	Exchange	1889	1952	London (registered); Tehran	British-registered bank with a Persian concession; item (10) in the 1931 CBEC list of exchange banks in India	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31
Indian Bank (Madras)	Joint stock	1907		Madras	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedICBEC1931 ch. II
Indian Specie Bank	Joint stock		1913	Bombay	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue; BAN1940
Karachi Bank	Joint stock	1910	1930	Karachi	Indian joint-stock	ReportedMuranjan, p. 293
Kathiawar and Ahmedabad Banking Corporation	Joint stock		1913	Ahmedabad	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue
Land Mortgage Bank of India	Other				Land mortgage institution in the 1877 Bombay listing	ReportedBagchi Vol. 2, p. 102
Lloyds Bank	Exchange			London	British joint-stock	VerifiedICBEC1931 §31
Lloyds Bank Limited	Exchange			Lombard-street, London	English joint-stock bank; took over Cox & Co.'s business; its "Eastern branches" were absorbed by the National Bank of India in 1961. A projected acquisition of the National Bank of India by Lloyds in 1920 was disallowed	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/NB01 via AIM25; The Gazette (London) 14 May 1940 issue 34850 suppl. p. 2946; Statistical Tables 1915–1926, App. IV
Mercantile Bank of India	Exchange	1853		London	British joint-stock; originally the Chartered Bank of Asia, renamed the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China	VerifiedICBEC1931 §30, §31
Mercantile Bank of India, Limited	Exchange	1893	1957	15, Gracechurch-street, London EC (1931)	English joint-stock company; London board. Robert James Black was chairman from 1906	VerifiedStatistical Tables relating to Banks in India, 1915–1926 bound issue, Table 12/15; The Gazette (London) 2 Jun 1922 issue 32716 suppl. p. 4318 (Black baronetcy: "Chairman Mercantile Bank of India since 1906. Director of Shell Transport Company"); Statistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10
Nath Bank	Joint stock		1950	Calcutta	Indian joint-stock, scheduled	VerifiedRBI, History of the Reserve Bank of India, Vol. I, pp. 732–733
National Bank of India	Exchange	1863	1958	Calcutta to 1866; then London (branch in London from 1864)	"promoted by British and Indian businessmen"; Indian-registered company 1863–66, then a British-registered company incorporated to acquire the business	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/NB01 via AIM25 (); Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31 (atom.aim25.com)
National Bank of South Africa	Exchange			London / South Africa	Exchange bank; opened an Indian branch in 1920	ReportedSA1924 Table 138 footnote (f)
National City Bank of New York	Exchange	1812		New York; London	US national bank; in India it had amalgamated the International Banking Corporation (Bagchi: the International Banking Corporation appeared in Calcutta in the first decade of the twentieth century)	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31; Statistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10; Bagchi Vol. 2, p. 70
Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank (Netherlands India Commercial Bank)	Exchange	1863		Amsterdam	Dutch corporation	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31; Statistical Tables ... 1947, Table 10
Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij	Exchange			Amsterdam	Dutch joint-stock (Netherlands Trading Society)	ReportedICBEC1931 §31
Netherlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Netherlands Trading Society)	Exchange	1824		Amsterdam	Dutch corporation; appears in CBEC 1931's list of non-Indian exchange banks in India	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31
New Bank of Bombay, Limited	Joint stock	1868	1876	Bombay	Limited-liability company under the Indian Companies Act; the Government of Bombay was authorised to take shares and re-establish an official connection (but by an Inspector rather than Government Directors)	ReportedHansard, HC Deb 20 February 1868, vol. 190, col. 987 (India - Bank of Bombay) (api.parliament.uk)
New Oriental Bank Corporation	Exchange	1885	1893	London	Successor to the failed Oriental Bank Corporation	VerifiedKeynes (1913), p. 207 n. 4; The Gazette (London) 23 Nov 1888 issue 25877 p. 6456
North Western Bank of India	Joint stock	1840	1859	Mussoorie	Private joint-stock bank	ReportedReserve Bank of India, 'The Advent of Modern Banking in India, 1720 to 1850s' (RBI Monetary Museum page, table 'Established / Failed (F) or Merged (M)') (rbi.org.in)
Orient Bank of India, Lahore	Joint stock		1913	Lahore	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue
Oriental Bank Corporation	Exchange	1842	1884	Threadneedle-street, London	Royal-chartered London corporation; for a period the government's banker in India until the Presidency Banks took that role	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, ch. II, p. 21; Keynes (1913), p. 207 n. 4; The Gazette (London) 8 Jul 1884 issue 25374 p. 3126
Oudh Commercial Bank	Joint stock	1881		Faizabad	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	Unconfirmednot verified in the sources read
P & O Banking Corporation Limited	Exchange	1920	1938	London	British; corporate papers survive in the Standard Chartered archive as `CLC/B/207/PC01–PC07`. CBEC 1931 names it among the five exchange banks with "a considerable portion of their business in India"	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/PC01–PC07 via AIM25 (); Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 422 (atom.aim25.com)
P&O Banking Corporation	Exchange			London	Exchange bank connected with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company; opened an Indian branch in 1920	ReportedSA1924 Table 138 footnote (f)
People's Bank of India	Joint stock	1901	1913	Lahore	Indian joint-stock, swadeshi foundation; Lala Harkishen Lal the dominant figure	ReportedBagchi, Vol. 2, ch. 17, pp. 480, 493
People's Bank of India, Lahore	Joint stock		1913	Lahore	Indian joint-stock, unlimited/limited under the Companies Act	ReportedSTBI1926 1915 issue; BAN1940; BMS1954 Table 22 (OCR table)
People's Bank of Northern India, Ltd	Joint stock	1925		Lahore	Indian joint-stock, limited	ReportedICBEC1931 ch. II
Pioneer Bank, Bombay	Joint stock	1911	1916	Bombay	Indian joint-stock; founded by Rahim Joosab, brother of Jaffar Joosab of the Credit Bank	ReportedMuranjan, pp. 300–301
Popular Bank, Rawalpindi	Joint stock		1913	Rawalpindi	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue
Punjab Co-operative Bank, Amritsar	Cooperative		1913	Amritsar	Co-operative society bank	VerifiedSTBI1926 1915 issue
Punjab National Bank	Joint stock	1894		Lahore	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	ReportedICBEC1931 ch. II
Punjab and Sind Bank	Joint stock	1908		Amritsar	Indian joint-stock, private shareholders	VerifiedICBEC1931 ch. II
Quilon Bank	Joint stock	1919	1937	Quilon	Indian joint-stock	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 6 p. 184
Reserve Bank of India	Central	1935	1949	Bombay	Shareholders' bank: Rs 5 crore capital, 5,00,000 shares of Rs 100; the entire issue was allotted to the public except 2,200 shares (Rs 2.2 lakh nominal) allotted to the Central Government under s.4(8) to hold at par for Directors' share qualification. Not a state-owned bank before 1 Jan 1949	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 3 pp. 84–96, ch. 4 p. 130, ch. 17 p. 505
Russo-Asiatic Bank	Exchange			St Petersburg / Paris	Russo-French joint-stock	VerifiedSTBI1926 1917 issue
Standard Bank of South Africa (later The Standard Bank Limited)	Exchange	1862	1969	Port Elizabeth / Cape Town, then 10 Clements Lane, London EC	Corporate archive (including the `ST01–ST08` series) survives in the Standard Chartered archive. Incorporated in Port Elizabeth; later a British-registered company with a London head office	VerifiedThe London Archives GB 0074 CLC/B/207/ST01–ST08 via AIM25 (); The Gazette (London) 28 Feb 1877 issue 24426 pp. 1243, 1445; 19 Jul 1881 issue 24997 p. 3548; 24 Nov 1882 issue 25171 p. 5340; Statistical Tables ... 1947, index (atom.aim25.com)
Sumitomo Bank	Exchange	1895		Osaka	Japanese joint-stock bank; item (15) in the 1931 CBEC list. Deposits GBP 22,229,000 in 1918-19 (Statistical Tables world list)	ReportedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, para. 31; Statistical Tables 1915–1926, App. IV
Thomas Cook and Son (Bankers)	Exchange	1841		Ludgate-circus and 99, Gracechurch-street, London (with 30+ UK branches, 1906)	Private partnership; the 1906 London Gazette return names Frank Henry Cook, Ernest Edward Cook, Thomas Albert Cook, all "Banker"	VerifiedIndian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, paras. 31, 422; The Gazette (London) 22 Feb 1906 issue 27888 suppl. p. 1320; 15 Feb 1896 issue 26710 p. 939
Travancore National Bank	Joint stock	1912	1937	Trivandrum / Quilon	Indian joint-stock	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 6 p. 184
Travancore National and Quilon Bank	Joint stock	1937	1938	Madras (Central Office); Quilon (Registered Office)	Indian joint-stock; amalgamation of two Travancore banks	VerifiedRBIH1 ch. 6 pp. 184–187
Union Bank of Calcutta	Joint stock	1829	1848	Calcutta	Private shareholders	ReportedICBEC1931 ch. II
Yokohama Specie Bank	Exchange			Yokohama	Japanese joint-stock	ReportedICBEC1931 §31
Yokohama Specie Bank Limited	Exchange	1880	1946	Yokohama (head office); 7, Bishopsgate, E.C. 2, London (1926)	"Only Japanese Subjects can be Shareholders" (London Gazette, 1926). Japanese company registered in Japan. Initially capitalised at 3 million yen (1880)	VerifiedThe Gazette (London) 27 Feb 1926 issue 33137 suppl. p. 1544; Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee 1931 Vol. I Pt I, ch. XVII; Bagchi Vol. 2, p. 70 (subscribed capital 3m yen rising to 48m by 1916)