The New Asiatic Bank
An austere and serious organisation, the New Asiatic is run by John Bickersdyke. Former employees include Mike Jackson and Psmith, employed there for a spell in Psmith in the City. It has the atmosphere of a public school, with the heads of department as autocratic as masters - the Postage Dept. is run by Mr Rossiter, the Cash Dept. by Mr Waller, and the Fixed Deposits Department by a Mr Gregory. The London branch is seen as something of a training ground for new blood - once a period of probation has been completed, most employees head out East.
At some point, the bank was successfully robbed of around two million dollars' worth of transferable bonds, by a man by the name of Edward Finglass, a friend of Alexander "Chimp" Twist and Thomas "Soapy" Molloy; though Finglass escaped, his haul was eventually recovered, thanks to Sam Shotter, in Sam the Sudden.
The bank is perhaps inspired by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, where Wodehouse himself worked for a time before his writing career took off, and is mentioned in passing in many other stories and novels. It is described in the chapter 4 of Psmith in the City that the London branch of the New Asiatic Bank is situated somewhere around the Mansion House and Queen Victoria St in the City of London.
Read more about this topic: P. G. Wodehouse Locations
Famous quotes containing the words the new, asiatic and/or bank:
“To the old, the new is usually bad news.”
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“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight.”
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