Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) Is the Oldest Banknote Issuing Bank

Hong Kong has a rather peculiar banknote issuance policy. In most countries, banknotes are issued by a central bank. In Hong Kong, however, the central bank—known as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority—licenses commercial banks to issue their own banknotes.

This policy is not unique to Hong Kong, as Scotland, Northern Ireland, and neighboring Macau have similar systems in place. Nevertheless, it remains highly unusual.

The first bank to issue banknotes in Hong Kong was the long-defunct Oriental Bank Corporation, which began doing so as early as 1846—just five years after the British took possession of Hong Kong Island. Since then, numerous banks have issued their own notes in the city, most of which have since disappeared or been absorbed by other entities. Among these institutions, Standard Chartered, which has been issuing currency in Hong Kong since 1862, remains the oldest bank still issuing banknotes as of 2026.

Its latest series, released in 2018, comes in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 Hong Kong dollars. Despite Standard Chartered being the city's oldest active note-issuing bank, its notes are actually the least common, representing only about 10% of the total banknotes in circulation as of 2020.