years in Persia and was instrumental in building up the bank's reputation. At the time, Persians were wary of giving up silver and gold coins for paper notes. He ordered all branches to keep enough silver coins to be able to redeem paper notes for silver on demand. However bank runs did occur in the early years of the bank, and these runs were sometimes instigated by the Russians who were the British rival in Persia. The bank issued only small notes in the early years to be able to redeem the notes for silver even in the remote areas. With the protection of Persian soldiers, the bank supplied even remote branches with enough silver coins. The bank's high level contact in Tehran was general Albert Houtum-Schindler who was, like Reuter, a British subject of German origin. Schindler lived in Persia for many years and was the most informed member of the European community in Persia at the time. Henry Drummond Wolff liked him so much that he tried unsuccessfully to persuade the foreign office to engage him as a member of Legation staff. Reuter employed him instead. Schindler and Rabino were instrumental in increasing the bank's reputation. The bank was instrumental in providing British loans to the Shah between 1892 and 1911. These loans were secured using Caspian fisheries and the custom dues of the Persian Gulf ports and raised the alarm of Persian nationalists. By 1928 the bank had 24 branches in all major Iranian cities. Between 1928 and 1952, the Imperial Bank was subject to criticism and attack from the nationalistic Iranian governments. Bank Melli, an Iranian-controlled central bank, was established in 1928. In 1933, Imperial Bank was forced to relinquish its note-issuing powers. In the 1930s, exchange controls and barter agreements destroyed the Imperial Bank's business in financing foreign trade. Imperial Bank began to rapidly lose market share to Bank Melli, and by 1939 the Imperial Bank held just 9 percent of Iranian bank deposits. The bank sold off half of its branches in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, the bank opened branches in the Persian Gulf States, and was the first bank in Kuwait, Dubai and Oman. In 1952 the bank abandoned the Iranian market and renamed itself the British Bank of the Middle East. In 1959 the British Bank of the Middle East was acquired by Hongkong Bank in a friendly takeover, and