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The Hong Kong Gold Market and the Southeast Asian Gold Trade in the 1950s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Catherine R. Schenk
Catherine R. Schenk
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway & Bedford New College
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Abstract

In the 1950s Hong Kong was the centre of the Southeast Asian gold trade due to its traditional facilities as an entrepot. In the postwar period, however, this trade took place illegally, which distorted the direction of the trade. This article surveys the British attitude to the gold market in the immediate postwar period, using archival records from the British Treasury and the Bank of England. The changing pattern of the gold trade between the major centres of Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand is then described. The gold market offers an almost unique view of the pattern of smuggling trade in the region due to detailed reports in the local press and investigations at the time by the Bank of England.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , May 1995 , pp. 387 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

1 The term native distinguishes these banks from the many branches of overseas banks operating in Hong Kong which were prohibited from participating in the free markets.

2 1.000 fine gold = 24 carat gold.

3 Public Records Office, London, Treasury Files (hereafter PRO, T) T236/2033, Telegram from Grantham to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 9 June 1948.

4 PRO, T236/2034, Telegram from Secretary of State for the Colonies to Grantham, 6 November. 1948.

5 PRO, T236/2034, Telegram from Grantham to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 22 April 1949.

6 PRO, T236/2034, Telegram from Grantham to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 24 May 1949.

7 PRO, T236/2034, Letter to N. E. Young from Portsmore at Bank of England, 24 May 1949.

8 PRO, T236/2034, Telegram from Secretary of State for the Colonies to Grantham, 27 May 1949.

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