Timothy Beardson

Timothy Beardson founded, majority-owned and ran Crosby, which became the largest independent investment bank in the Far East. He sat on the board of investment companies which were involved in most countries of South and East Asia from Pakistan through China to Indonesia. Eventually, Crosby employed 650 staff in 14 countries from New York to Beijing. It had an annual transaction volume of US $20 billion. It was the first international investment bank to open in China, Thailand and Malaysia and the only foreign bank invited to participate in the working party to set up the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Crosby was active in the stock markets and had presences in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also had operations in Britain, Japan, Switzerland and the United States. It advised governments, corporations and financial institutions on strategic and economic issues regarding Asia and the world. Beardson sold the bank in the late 1990s. He is married, with one son, and lives principally in Hong Kong.