Far East Bank was founded in 1959 by Mr. Deacon Chiu (邱德根), the founder of Far East Holdings.

It started as a qianzhuang (native bank) in Tsuen Wan by collecting deposits from farmers.

[1] In the 1960s, it suffered heavily from heavy lending to property sector and fraud.

In 1965, bank runs occurred in several small and medium banks in Hong Kong, which eventually triggered the stock market crash in 1965.

By order of the British Hong Kong government, the bank was aided by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation until it was acquired by First National City Bank in 1969.