Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1953-1971 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
21 production units.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Eastern Bank Limited was founded in London as a limited company at the end of 1909 as a new Eastern 'exchange' bank, to help finance trade with the East. As well as the Head Office in London, which exercised close day-to-day control, it had two overseas branches. established in 1910 in Bombay and Calcutta. From the start the Bank had a number of powerful institutional shareholders, including the Eastern trading house, E D Sassoon.
In the mid 1950s the Calcutta branch of the bank made several loans to the Mundhra group of companies, owned by Haridas Mundhra. The group included the Brahmapootra Tea Company (India) Limited; Osler Electric Lamp Manufacturing Company Limited; F&C Osler (India) Limited; Richardson & Cruddas Limited; and the British India Corporation.
Haridas Mundhra borrowed in excess of a quarter of a million pounds from Eastern Bank, and subsequently underwent civil and criminal prosecution in India. The manager of the Calcutta branch resigned, and was prosecuted in India for falsifying stautory banking returns. The total loss to Eastern Bank was around £750, 000.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 CLC/B/207-6 1953-1971 Collection 21 production units. Eastern Bank Ltd
The Eastern Bank Limited was founded in London as a limited company at the end of 1909 as a new Eastern 'exchange' bank, to help finance trade with the East. As well as the Head Office in London, which exercised close day-to-day control, it had two overseas branches. established in 1910 in Bombay and Calcutta. From the start the Bank had a number of powerful institutional shareholders, including the Eastern trading house, E D Sassoon.
In the mid 1950s the Calcutta branch of the bank made several loans to the Mundhra group of companies, owned by Haridas Mundhra. The group included the Brahmapootra Tea Company (India) Limited; Osler Electric Lamp Manufacturing Company Limited; F&C Osler (India) Limited; Richardson & Cruddas Limited; and the British India Corporation.
Haridas Mundhra borrowed in excess of a quarter of a million pounds from Eastern Bank, and subsequently underwent civil and criminal prosecution in India. The manager of the Calcutta branch resigned, and was prosecuted in India for falsifying stautory banking returns. The total loss to Eastern Bank was around £750, 000.
The Eastern Bank archives, part of the archives of Standard Chartered Bank, were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates after August 1989, when Standard Chartered discontinued its in-house archive service. GL Ms 39015/1-3, comprising three bundles of correspondence, and Ms 39037, comprising one bundle of circulars of specimen signatures, were presented to the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by Barclays Bank Group Archives in May 2000 and February 2001. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Papers of the Eastern Bank Limited relating to the Mundhra Loan, including correspondence; Board memoranda, news cuttings and correspondence relating to the Mundhra Group; memoranda, progress reports, statistics and legal papers regarding Brahmapootra Tea Company (India) Limited and the Osler Electric Lamp Manufacturing Company Limited; and correspondence with Chartered Bank regarding the Mundhra Group.
Access to the archives is subject to a 45 year rule, with a 70 year rule for records containing personally sensitive information. In addition, all records are held off-site, and require at least 24 hours notice for access.
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
English
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
For the main records of Eastern Bank see CLC/B/207-5.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
January to May 2011. Information sources Documents Business records Finance Financing Loans People People by occupation Business people Bank employees Bankers Business practice and regulation Business management Management Overseas banks Banks Financial institutions Banking Eastern Bank Ltd India South Asia Occupations
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The Eastern Bank archives, part of the archives of Standard Chartered Bank, were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates after August 1989, when Standard Chartered discontinued its in-house archive service. GL Ms 39015/1-3, comprising three bundles of correspondence, and Ms 39037, comprising one bundle of circulars of specimen signatures, were presented to the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by Barclays Bank Group Archives in May 2000 and February 2001. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of the Eastern Bank Limited relating to the Mundhra Loan, including correspondence; Board memoranda, news cuttings and correspondence relating to the Mundhra Group; memoranda, progress reports, statistics and legal papers regarding Brahmapootra Tea Company (India) Limited and the Osler Electric Lamp Manufacturing Company Limited; and correspondence with Chartered Bank regarding the Mundhra Group.
Access to the archives is subject to a 45 year rule, with a 70 year rule for records containing personally sensitive information. In addition, all records are held off-site, and require at least 24 hours notice for access.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
For the main records of Eastern Bank see CLC/B/207-5.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English