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Netherlands Trading Society

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"Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij" above the entrance to theAmsterdam Archivesat theDe Bazelbuilding, built as NHM's headquarters

TheNetherlands Trading Society(Dutch:Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij N.V.orNHM) was a Dutch trading and financial company, established in 1824, inThe HaguebyKing William Ito 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. In 1964, it merged with Twentsche Bank to formAlgemene Bank Nederland,itself a predecessor ofABN AMRO.

History[edit]

The NHM was a private company which issued publicly traded shares. 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 theDutch governmentmeant it played an important role in the development of trade between the Netherlands and theDutch East Indies.[1]Its former headquarters inDe Bazelin Amsterdam houses theAmsterdam Archivestoday.[2]

The NHM is sometimes called the successor of theDutch East India Companyor VOC, as it was also a private company that issued shares and financed trade with the Dutch East Indies. The establishment of the NHM can be seen as an attempt to bring new impetus to trade with the Dutch East Indies after the depression of the years ofFrench domination(1795–1814), and the final collapse of the VOC two decades earlier. With playful reference to the greatness of the VOC, the NHM was colloquially known asKompenie Ketjilor the "little company".[citation needed]

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 theIndonesian governmentnationalised them in 1960 to form a new locally owned bank, but by then had branches in many other parts of the world.

Time line[edit]

  • 1824: King William I created the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) by Royal Decree to revive trade between the Netherlands and theNetherlands East Indies.
  • 1826: NHM opened an office inBatavia(nowJakarta), known asDe Factorij
  • 1858: NHM opened a branch inSingapore
  • 1870s: NHM expands its overseas activities into banking
  • 1888: NHM opened a branch inPenang
  • 1902: NHM starts banking operations in the Netherlands
  • 1906: NHM opened a branch inHong Kong[3]
  • 1920: NHM opened branches inBombay(Mumbai) andCalcutta(Kolkata) primarily to work with clients in thediamondbusiness
  • 1926: NHM opened a branch inJeddah,Saudi Arabia.Known later as the Saudi Hollandi Bank (currentlyAlawwal Bank), it was the first, and until 1948 the only,commercial bankin the Kingdom. The branch existed to serve the needs of Indonesian Muslims coming to performHajj,thepilgrimagetoMecca
  • 1934: Financial restructuring; NHM reduces its capital by 75 percent
  • 1936: NHM initiates a retail presence in the Netherlands beyond its previous branches in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam, by acquiring the Guelders Credit Union (Dutch:Geldersche Credietvereeniging)
  • 1941: NHM opened an agency inNew York City
  • 1948: NHM opened a branch inKarachito become the first foreign bank to receive a banking license from the new government ofPakistan
  • 1949: NHM acquiredDe Surinaamsche Bank
  • 1951: NHM opened branches inMombasa(Kenya), andDar-es-Salaam(Tanganyika)
  • 1954: NHM opened a branch inBeirut(Lebanon), and one inKampala(Uganda)
  • 1959: The Indonesian government nationalized NHM's plantations
  • 1960: The Indonesian government nationalized NHM's banking operations intoBank Ekspor Impor Indonesia,laterBank Mandiri
  • 1963: NHM set up itsMalaysianhead office inKuala Lumpur
  • 1964: NHM merged with De Twentsche Bank to formAlgemene Bank Nederland(ABN)

Buildings[edit]

The building at Vijzelstraat 32 inAmsterdamknown today as "De Bazel"is named after its architectKarel de Bazel.It was originally built in 1919–1926 for the NHM and it is decorated with many details reminiscent of Indonesia, most notably the brickwork, which earned the building the nickname "spekkoek"It was later repurposed as theAmsterdam Archives.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^(Dutch) explanation of building[permanent dead link]in Amsterdam Archives
  2. ^Amsterdam ArchivesArchived2009-06-14 at theWayback Machine
  3. ^Eastern Daily Mail (8 Mar 1906)

External links[edit]

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