ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews developments in three elements of the financial services offered in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s: the gold market, the stock exchange and insurance. The operations of the gold market in the 1950s and 1960s were clandestine but the volume of transactions passing through the market was large, and it was developed into a major regional trading hub with global links. The history of the market exemplifies the conflict between the governments in Hong Kong and London. Unlike the case of the free dollar market, the gold market was officially closed after British pressure was applied, although this did not eliminate the trade. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange was more limited in scope in the early decades after the war. Its importance lay in attracting considerable overseas capital, and the impact of the share boom in 1960-1 on the banking system. Finally, Hong Kong was the regional centre for many international insurance providers that were attracted by the entrepot activities of the colony. In the 1960s, the market began to diversify into the provision of investment products for residents of Hong Kong.
