When it opened 40 years ago, the bank’s new headquarters was the most expensive building in the world
4-MIN READ4-MINSCMPPublished: 5:30pm, 8 Apr 2026This article was first published on April 8, 1986.
The new $5.2 billion headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corpn was formally opened last night (April 7, 1986) when the Governor, Sir Edward Youde, snipped a simple ribbon.
The building, every light ablaze, was a symbol of the bank’s faith in the future of Hongkong, said the bank’s chairman, Mr Michael Sandberg.
Many also saw it as a vindication of Mr Sandberg’s own commitment in his final years as chairman to press ahead with the controversial new headquarters, despite a barrage of criticism about its price tag.
“It is easy to mouth confidence for the future,” said Mr Sandberg, who hands over the reins as chairman later this year. “But I believe these headquarters say it all so far as the bank sees the future.”
The battleship grey architectural enigma, which has been described as capitalism’s cathedral of hi-tech, certainly dominated Central last night — just as surely as the bank has dominated Asian finance for decades.
