ite of the fact that the American Oriental Banking Corporation, with its head offices at 29 Nanking Road, made a profit of nearly six lakhs last year, had approximately $8,000,000] in deposits, and a capitalization of approximately $4,700,000 the Board of Directors, meeting on Friday morning, decided to close the bank and apply for liquidation through the United States Court for Chi At 10 am,, notices to this effect were posted at the main doors in English, Russian, and Chinese.
The notice in English read "The American Oriental Banking Corporation has been closed by order of the Board of Directors pending an application to the U.S. Court for China for the appointment of a liquidator, (signed) Secretary."
'With the same gesture, the 'American-Oriental Finance Corporation and the Raven Trust Company closed their offices to public business. 'The Asia Realty Company, generally, but misunderstood to be an associate company, remained open' for business. The latter company, however, is to apply for a trustee in the U.S. court, in accordance with a recent Congressional statute—77B—for reorganization.
The official statement of he American Oriental Banking Corporation, issued on Friday, vead:—"Owing to the increasing business depression and the present Jocal financial situation that li making it practically impossible to maintain sufficient cash balance to meet current obligations, the Directors and Officers of the A\ merican Oriental Banking Corporation have decided that it would be in the best interest of the depositors to liquidate the bank at this time when it is believed that all depositors in an orderly liquidation will receive 100 per cent, of their deposits,'
Interviewed by a representative of the "North-China "Herald," Mr, F. J. Raven, President of the American Oriental Bank, said: "After a conference of the Di-tors of the. Bank, which was plemented by other financial expert advice, we came to the conclusion that, with business conditions as they are,.we had no other recourse, earitig, the interest of our depositors in mind, excepting to sus-vend business.
"The bank 1s now in a position to pay 100 cents on the dollar, providing business conditions continue dur ing liquidation as they are now. Our assets will easily provide for this payment. We could have continued business, but, with a depressed market fand uncertain financial futures, agreed that our first duty war the restitution of money owing to our thousands of depositors."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.