Tamil Nadu Timeline

EconomyBritish Crown rule

Collapse of Arbuthnot & Co

· Chennai

The failure of the Madras banking firm Arbuthnot & Co caused the worst financial crisis in the city's history and fuelled support for Indian-owned banks.

Arbuthnot & Co, a long-established British firm and bank in Madras, failed on 22 October 1906. It had about 7,000 creditors and liabilities of around one million pounds, and many Indian depositors lost their savings. One of its partners committed suicide, and Sir George Arbuthnot was tried and sentenced to 18 months' rigorous imprisonment for fraud. The crisis contributed to the founding of the Indian-owned Indian Bank in 1907.

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