Bank of Bombay was the second of the three presidency banks (others being the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Madras) of the Raj period. It was established, pursuant to a charter of the British East India Company, on 15 April 1840. The bank's headquarters were in Bombay, now called Mumbai. The Bank of Bombay undertook all the normal activities which a commercial bank was expected to undertake. The Bank of Madras, in the absence of any central banking authority at that time, also conducted certain functions which are ordinarily a preserve of a central bank.