The Travancore National and Quilon Bank (often abbreviated as: TN&Q Bank) was a bank founded in the year 1937 in

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The bank failed in spectacular circumstances in 1938.

History

Founding

The Travancore National and Quilon Bank was the result of a 1937 merger between Travancore National Bank (founded: 1912) and Quilon Bank (founded: 1919). At that time it was the fourth largest bank in India. The founders of the bank belonged to the same business family that owned and operated the

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

Management

The bank was owned and managed largely by Christians from the Indian state of Kerala. The bank had also managed to become the fourth largest bank in India, after the

Imperial Bank of India The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the cen ...

, the

Central Bank of India Central Bank of India (CBI) is an Indian public sector bank based in Mumbai. Despite its name, it is not the central bank of India; The Indian central bank is the Reserve Bank of India. History The Central Bank of India was established on ...

and the

Bank of India Bank of India (BOI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founder member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter B ...

Failure and Final Years

The Travancore National and Quilon Bank suspended withdrawals on June 21, 1938, and was liquidated in August 1938. The two founders of the bank,

K. C. Mammen Mappillai K. C. Mammen Mappillai (1873 – 31 December 1953) was an Indian journalist, who became editor of the Malayalam language daily Malayala Manorama after his paternal uncle Kandathil Varghese Mappillai died. Besides being a noted journalist, he was ...

and

Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen C. P. Mathen (18 May 1890 – 2 June 1960), in full Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen, was an Indian politician who served as Member of the Indian Parliament in the first Lok Sabha, constituted in 1952 after India gained independence from Great Brit ...

were both imprisoned for multiple years.

Legacy

The bank is notable for being one of the first banks in India to have failed after the creation of the regulator and central bank, the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

. The

Banking Regulation Act, 1949 The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 is a legislation in India that regulates all banking firms in India. Passed as the Banking Companies Act 1949, it came into force from 16 March 1949 and changed to Banking Regulation Act 1949 from 1 March 1966. ...

was enacted into law largely as a reaction to the failure of the Travancore National and Quilon Bank. The

now wanted to have more powers to deal with failing banks and to safeguard the interests of the depositors.

References

External links

History of the Bank

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travancore National and Quilon Bank Defunct banks of India Companies based in Kerala Banks based in Kerala Financial services companies based in Kochi