Standard Chartered Bank The history of the London- based Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore goes back to 1859, when it established a banking agency to conduct exchange, deposit and remittances in connection with its other establishments. The bank’s arrival was welcomed by the Singapore Free Press— it was observed that some of the most respected Singapore merchants had joined the Court of Directors. A high degree of local confidence and support was predicted.
In 1861, a supplemental charter allowed the agency to become a branch and engage in competitive exchange operations with China. Over the decades that followed, the bank maintained a close connection with the rapidly developing tin and rubber industries in Malaya, while playing an active part in financing a variety of other commercial ventures. Like its rivals the Hongkong and Mercantile banks, it was authorized to issue bank notes, a privilege it was to exercise until the end of the 19th century.
With the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942, normal operations were disrupted: officers were interned, and the premises were taken over by the occupation authorities. The bank came under Japanese administration. When Singapore was liberated, the bank’s premises were found to be intact, although equipment and furniture had been removed.
In modern times, the bank has played an important part in establishing Singapore as a key financial centre. In 2006, Standard Chartered Bank had 3,200 employees and 19 branches in Singapore, including a Priority Banking Centre in Suntec City. On 20 October 1999 it was among the first four foreign banks to be awarded qualifying full bank status, which allows banks to have additional branches and/or off- premise automated teller machines (ATMs), as well as to share ATMs.
The bank’s premises have always been in the heart of the business district. After starting out in Prince Street (close to the Ocean Building) the bank moved to Battery Road; and then to a second site in Battery Road, at the end of Raffles Place, where Swan & Maclaren designed impressive premises in the classical style, completed in 1904. These were demolished in 1981 to make way for the present 44- storey structure now officially called Six Battery Road, but still known to many as the ‘Stanchart Building’.