russells attempted to rescue itself when it was about to bankrupt by founding the national bank of china to draw some capital. forbes became one of the founders with his brother henry de courcy and the howqua family whom they had established a close relationship for a long time. s. w. pomeroy, a russell partner and former director of the hongkong and shanghai bank, with other members of the company, criticised forbes brothers for sponsoring the national bank in which the hongkong and shanghai bank viewed as rival, which led to william forbes's resignation from the board of the hongkong and shanghai bank in march 1891.