Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij
Encyclopedia
The Netherlands Trading Society ( or NHM) was a Dutch
trading company established in 1824 by King Willem I of the Netherlands to promote and develop trade, shipping and agriculture. For the next 140 years the NHM developed a large international branch network and increasingly engaged in banking operations, and subsequently would become one of the primary ancestors of ABN AMRO
.
The NHM was a private company which issued publicly traded shares and according to the king, the NHM would act to leverage economic activity and encourage the development of national wealth. However in practice it came down to expanding existing trade, by gathering data and searching for new markets as well as financing industry and shipping. Its close association with Dutch government meant it played an important role in the development of trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies
. Its former headquarters in De Bazel
in Amsterdam houses the Amsterdam Archives today.
The NHM is sometimes called the successor of the Dutch East India Company
, as it was also a private company that issued shares and financed trade with the Dutch East Indies. The establishment of the NHM could probably be seen as an attempt to bring new impetus to trade with the Dutch East Indies after the depression of the years of French domination
(1795–1814) and the final collapse of the Dutch East India Company two decades earlier.
The NHM financing of trade and shipping led to the development of a network of branches which increasingly engaged in financing and banking operations. The network extended throughout South East Asia and on the trade routes between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies and the NHM continued to extend its network into the 20th century. It lost a number of its branches when the Indonesian government nationalised them in 1960 to form a new locally owned bank, but by then had branches in many other parts of the world. The NHM continued to developed more and more banking and financing operations with its branch network and it went on to became one of the primary ancestors of ABN AMRO
bank when in 1964 it merged with the Dutch Twentsche Bank to form Algemene Bank Nederland
(ABN).
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
trading company established in 1824 by King Willem I of the Netherlands to promote and develop trade, shipping and agriculture. For the next 140 years the NHM developed a large international branch network and increasingly engaged in banking operations, and subsequently would become one of the primary ancestors of ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...
.
History
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
. Its former headquarters in De Bazel
De Bazel
De Bazel is a monumental building on the west side of the Vijzelstraat in Amsterdam , and stretches from the Herengracht to the Keizersgracht...
in Amsterdam houses the Amsterdam Archives today.
The NHM is sometimes called the successor of the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
, as it was also a private company that issued shares and financed trade with the Dutch East Indies. The establishment of the NHM could probably be seen as an attempt to bring new impetus to trade with the Dutch East Indies after the depression of the years of French domination
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
(1795–1814) and the final collapse of the Dutch East India Company two decades earlier.
The NHM financing of trade and shipping led to the development of a network of branches which increasingly engaged in financing and banking operations. The network extended throughout South East Asia and on the trade routes between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies and the NHM continued to extend its network into the 20th century. It lost a number of its branches when the Indonesian government nationalised them in 1960 to form a new locally owned bank, but by then had branches in many other parts of the world. The NHM continued to developed more and more banking and financing operations with its branch network and it went on to became one of the primary ancestors of ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...
bank when in 1964 it merged with the Dutch Twentsche Bank to form Algemene Bank Nederland
Algemene Bank Nederland
Algemene Bank Nederland was a Dutch bank that became one of the main predecessors in ABN AMRO. It was created in 1964 when the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij merged with De Twentsche Bank...
(ABN).
Time line
- 1824: King Willem I created the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) by Royal Decree to revive trade between the Netherlands and the Netherlands East Indies.
- 1826: NHM opened an office in Batavia (JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
).
- 1858: NHM opened a branch in SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
- 1870: NHM extended its activities to include banking.
- 1888: NHM opened a branch in PenangPenangPenang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
.
- 1889: NHM opened a branch in Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
- 1920: NHM opened branches in Bombay (MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
) and Calcutta (KolkataKolkataKolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
) primarily to work with clients in the diamondDiamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
business.
- 1926: NHM opened a branch in JeddahJeddahJeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. Know later as the Saudi Hollandi BankSaudi Hollandi BankThe Saudi Hollandi Bank is a bank based in Saudi Arabia. It was the first operating bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was originally founded in 1926 as a branch of the Netherlands Trading Society.-History:...
it was the first, and until 1948 the only, commercial bankCommercial bankAfter the implementation of the Glass–Steagall Act, the U.S. Congress required that banks engage only in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. As the two no longer have to be under separate ownership under U.S...
in the Kingdom. The branch existed to serve the needs of Indonesian Muslims coming to perform HajjHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, the pilgrimagePilgrimageA pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
.
- 1941: NHM opened an agency in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
- 1948: NHM opened a branch in KarachiKarachiKarachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
to become the first foreign bank to receive a banking license from the new government of PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
- 1949: NHM acquired De Surinaamsche BankDe Surinaamsche BankDe Surinaamsche Bank or DSB is one of the largest banks in Suriname.-History:*1865: Simon Abendanon founds De Surinaamsche Bank in Paramaribo...
.
- 1951: NHM opened branches in MombasaMombasaMombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, (KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
), and Dar-es-Salaam, (TanganyikaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
).
- 1954: NHM opened a branch in BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, (LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
), and one in KampalaKampalaKampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, (UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
).
- 1960: The Indonesian government nationalized NHM's local operations and formed a new bank, Bank Ekspor Impor IndonesiaBank MandiriBank Mandiri , headquartered in Jakarta, is the largest bank in Indonesia in term of assets, loans and deposits. Total assets as of Q2 2010 were IDR 402.1 trillion . It also has Capital Adequacy Ratio of 23% , Return on Asset of 0.71 %, and Return on Equity of 7.38 %...
.
- 1963: NHM set up its Malaysian head office in Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
.
- 1964: NHM merged with De Twentsche Bank to form Algemene Bank NederlandAlgemene Bank NederlandAlgemene Bank Nederland was a Dutch bank that became one of the main predecessors in ABN AMRO. It was created in 1964 when the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij merged with De Twentsche Bank...
(ABN).
External links
- Dutch_East_Indies in 1911 encyclopedia Brittannica
- King Willem I in 1911 encyclopedia Brittannica