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Deutsch-Asiatische Bank

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Deutsch-Asiatische Bank
Company typePrivate
IndustryBanking, Finance
FoundedFebruary 12, 1889; 137 years ago (1889-02-12) in Shanghai, China
FounderDisconto-Gesellschaft, Deutsche Bank, S. Bleichröder, others
Defunct1972
FateMerged into Europäisch-Asiatische Bank (later Deutsche Bank Asia)
SuccessorEuropäisch-Asiatische Bank
Headquarters
Shanghai (original), later Hamburg (head office from 1953)
,
China (original), Germany (later)
Area served
East Asia, including China, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Singapore
ProductsTrade financing, bond underwriting, banknote issuance
OwnerPrivate banking institutions (including Deutsche Bank)
Number of employees
85 (1939), 8 (1949) (1939, 1949)

The Deutsch-Asiatische Bank (DAB; ) was a foreign bank operating in Asia, established in 1889 in Shanghai. It was owned by private banking institutions and specialized in trade financing, serving as a "quasi-governmental" entity that bolstered the German Empire's presence in East Asia.[1] Alongside British and French financial institutions, it underwrote bonds for the Chinese government, issued the Kiautschou Dollar, and provided funding for railway development.

History

The bank was founded on 12 February 1889 within the Shanghai International Settlement, initiated by Disconto-Gesellschaft with involvement from prominent German banks such as Deutsche Bank, S. Bleichröder, among others. Its starting capital was shared among these leading financial entities.[2] It marked the first significant non-British banking institution to enter the Chinese market.[3] The bank’s management operated out of Shanghai while a supervisory board based in Berlin provided oversight.[4]

Branches were opened throughout Asia, including Tianjin (1890), Calcutta (1896), Hankou and Qingdao (1897), Hong Kong (1899), Yokohama (1905), Beijing (1905), Kobe and Singapore (1906), as well as Jinan and Guangzhou (1910). Prior to World War I, the bank collaborated with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to counterbalance competition from French, Japanese, and Russian banks.[3]

In 1906, the DAB obtained authorization to issue banknotes denominated in Mexican dollars and taels.[5]

With the outbreak of World War I, British authorities forced the closure of branches in Calcutta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kobe, and Yokohama. Japan seized the Qingdao branch following its 1914 siege. Subsequently, all remaining Chinese branches shut down after China's entry into the conflict in 1917.[3] By early 1919, operations in Shanghai were wound up, leaving only branches in Beijing and Hankou active.[6]

After diplomatic relations normalized post-war, business resumed in Japan—although the Yokohama branch was destroyed during the 1923 earthquake—and China with branch reopenings in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hankou, Shanghai, and Tianjin.[7]

The Berlin office ceased functioning during Soviet occupation in 1945.[8] On , the Republic of China government confiscated the Shanghai headquarters without compensation. Despite restricted access to records, the Hamburg branch maintained limited operations. Staff numbers declined sharply from 85 employees in 1939 to only eight by January 1949.[9] In June 1953, the head office officially relocated to Hamburg.[10]

In 1963, DAB incorporated the operations of Deutsche Bank für Ostasien, a wartime entity that facilitated trade between Germany and Japan; its Tokyo branch had been liquidated by Allied forces.[11]

The year 1972 saw Deutsche Bank and EBIC partner banks establish Europäisch-Asiatische Bank (also known as European Asian Bank or Eurasbank), merging DAB into this new institution. Shareholders included Deutsche Bank, AMRO Bank, Banca Commerciale Italiana, Creditanstalt-Bankverein, Midland Bank, Société Générale de Banque, and Société Générale.[12] In 1986 it was renamed Deutsche Bank (Asia) after partner banks divested their shares; by 1988 it had been fully integrated into Deutsche Bank.[13]

Buildings

The Shanghai office of the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank was inaugurated at No. 14 Bund on . Following the conclusion of World War I, ownership of the site transferred to China's Bank of Communications, which during the 1940s constructed the present-day Bank of Communications Building on the location.


Banknotes

Similar to other foreign financial institutions operating in China, the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank issued paper currency within its concessions, facilitating local trade by providing region-specific banknotes.


See also

References

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  6. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named DAB1928
  8. ↑ "Ghassan Moazzin, "From Globalization to Liquidation: The Deutsch-Asiatische Bank and the First World War in China," Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 16 (2015), 52-76" Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  12. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ↑ Deutsch Bank Archived 29 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Bankgeschichte.de (2 November 2004). Retrieved 11 January 2012.
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