Bank of Bengal rate
6.06%
+0.44 pts on 1919
Bank of Bombay rate
6.36%
+0.72 pts on 1919
Bank of Madras rate
6.2%
−0.45 pts on 1919
founded · 1 January 1920
4 banks
National Bank of South Africa, Imperial Bank of Persia, P&O Banking Corporation and Banco Nacional Ultramarino all opened branches in India
ReportedOfficial record. Source: SA1924 Table 138 footnotes (d), (e), (f)
Banking · merged
3 banks into 1
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)
VerifiedOfficial record. Source: eparlib.nic.in.761829; eparlib.nic.in.761874; eparlib.nic.in.763737; IOR/L/F/7/213
Banking · failed · 1 January 1920
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.
Imperial Bank of India · regulation
Act No. XLVII of 1920 provided for the amalgamation of the three presidency banks into the Imperial Bank of India.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: Reserve Bank of India, Banking and Monetary Statistics of India (Bombay, 1954), Section 1, Table 3, pp. 10-11 (archive.org)
chartered · 1 September 1920
Imperial Bank of India Act passed in the Imperial Legislative Council
ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: JEVONS1922 p.77
monetary system
Recommended: stability of exchange; a statutory minimum metallic reserve of 40 per cent of gross note circulation (against the Chamberlain formula, which would have required Rs 119 crores of metal instead of the Rs 80 crores then held, and against Mr Howard's 50 per cent of a three-year average, which would have fixed Rs 56½ crores); GoI securities in the reserve limited to Rs 20 crores with the balance in short-dated securities of other Empire governments; removal of the prohibition of silver imports and of the import duty on silver; withdrawal of the obligation to give rupees for sovereigns; and stabilisation of the rupee at 10 rupees to one sovereign (2s)
VerifiedOfficial record. Source: BS1920 paras 33-86, esp. 59, 68, 70-71, 78-79
banking structure
Act passed in the Imperial Legislative Council creating the Imperial Bank of India by amalgamating the three Presidency Banks; capital Rs 11,25,00,000 in Rs 500 shares against Rs 3,75,00,000 for the three banks together; existing shareholders allotted two new shares per share held; shareholders of Bengal and Bombay paid Rs 125 per new share, Madras shareholders Rs 225; the extra Rs 100 per share (Rs 15,00,000) went to the new bank as a premium and appears in its reserve fund of Rs 372 lakhs
VerifiedPeer-reviewed. Source: JEVONS1922 pp.77-79
Imperial Bank of India
Provided for the amalgamation of the three Presidency Banks; fixed the constitution of the Central Board (16 members, 10 Government-appointed); required not fewer than 100 branches within five years; allowed a London branch and sterling business; prohibited dealing in foreign exchange
VerifiedOfficial record. Source: RBIH1 ch. 1; ICBEC1931 ch. III
Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay, Bank of Madras
Provided for the amalgamation of the three presidency banks into the Imperial Bank of India. The Act's text and its provisions on capital, board composition and the currency reserve were not located in this session.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: Reserve Bank of India, Banking and Monetary Statistics of India (Bombay, 1954), Section 1, Table 3, pp. 10-11 (archive.org)
exchange rate / prices
The rupee, having been pushed to 2s 4d (12 December 1919), fell back during 1920-21; the general price index fell from 281 in 1920 to 236 (or 228 on the later recomputation) in 1921
ReportedOfficial record. Source: SA1924 Table 301; INP1933 note in Gaps
