Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

The taking over of the business of1867 TO 1901 133the Bank of BritishColumbia at the end of 1900 was a notable event in the historyof The Canadian Bank of Commerce, and the thoroughnesswith which all the details were carried out illustrates themethods of the management at this period of the bank'shistory. It is true that nothing like it had occurred in Canadafor a number of years, and that in the absence of precedent,every detail called for careful consideration. It is also truethat the amalgamations which had taken place in the past hadbeen of banks which were more or less in difficulties, and thatfor this reason action had to be taken promptly or not at all,so that there was no time to consider methods of procedure.In this case there was no need for haste. An agreementbetween the two banks was signed on April 30, 1900. Thecarrying out of this preliminary agreement was sanctioned bythe shareholders of The Canadian Bank of Commerce at ameeting held on August 20. On September 28 the generalmanager submitted to the Board the results of such examinationas it had been possible to make of the assets of the Bank ofBritish Columbia from the books and papers of that bank, andafter the matter had been discussed at one or two meetings ofthe Board, it was referred to a committee of five directorswith instructions to report at a subsequent meeting. Thecommittee dealt with the matter promptly and reported thefollowing week. It was then decided that the knowledge sofar gained justified the making of an actual physical inspectionof all the assets of the bank in order to check the statementssubmitted.This was carried out by making a simultaneousexamination of the cash, securities and accounts of the elevenoffices of the Bank of British Columbia from London, England,to San Francisco. On the conclusion of this examination, withsatisfactory results, another special general meeting of theshareholders of The Canadian Bank of Commerce was held onDecember 11, which formally confirmed the final agreementbetween the two banks. In the meantime the shareholders ofthe Bank of British Columbia had met on July 25 and