ABSTRACT
The more immediate causes of the weak position in which Chartered Mercantile Bank found itself by the middle of 1892 were the failure of the New Oriental Bank Corporation and the frauds perpetrated on Bombay branch by Beyts, Craig and Co. The more long-standing causes were the shrinkage in the sterling value of the bank’s capital fixed abroad and the violent fluctuations in the value of silver over recent years which had caused so much speculative business in Eastern banking, many failures amongst the bank’s customers and depreciation in the value of securities lodged with the bank against advances.
