Thomas Sutherland founded Hongkong and Shanghae (sic) Banking Co (Limited) in March 1865, based, as he said at the time, on 'sound Scottish banking principles'.
Born into a Calvinist family in Aberdeen, Mr Sutherland - possessing a grammar school education - came to Hong Kong in his early 20s as a junior assistant for Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation. At 31, the shrewd Scotsman had already become the superintendent for China and Japan for P&O, whose fortune was largely made on the opium trade.
Together with local Western merchants he founded the bank, immediately opening offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai to help finance shipping and the opium business.
Branches were opened in China, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Europe and North America. It often pioneered modern bank practices and issued its own currency, including in Hong Kong, throughout the Far East.
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941 to 1943, chief manager Vandeleur Grayburn and successor David Edmondston, as well as hundreds of staffers, died while interned by the Japanese.
Although its headquarters decamped to London in 1993, HSBC, often simply called 'The Bank', is still considered a local institution.