Story: Business failures and corporate fraud

Bank of New Zealand cartoon

Bank of New Zealand cartoon

William Blomfield’s 1895 cartoon refers to the need for the government to provide further support for the Bank of New Zealand. In June 1894 when the bank faced collapse, a bill was rushed through Parliament providing a £2-million share guarantee to bolster the bank’s reserves. Then the BNZ took over the near-insolvent Colonial Bank, and in 1895 the two banks were forced once again to clutch at government assistance.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: A-312-6-034
Cartoon by William Blomfield

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Graeme Hunt, 'Business failures and corporate fraud - Government intervention, 1890–1940', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/cartoon/22338/bank-of-new-zealand-cartoon (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Graeme Hunt, published 11 Mar 2010