American Trading Company of Borneo

The American Trading Company of Borneo was a chartered company formed by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley Harris together with several Chinese investors shortly after the acquisition over a parcel of land in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Brunei. The first American settlement in the area soon was named "Ellena", although it was abandoned later due to financial difficulties, diseases and riots among the workers.

History
In 1850, the United States and Brunei signed a commercial treaty, which was activated in 1865. Out of this agreement, C.L. Moses, the then US First Consul to the sultanate, was able to secure a lease of a large territorial concession in North Borneo. The grant was made in an effort by the Sultan, who still had to address internal power struggle, to solve the problems of rebellion and piracy in North Borneo. Moses concessions were immediately sold to Torrey, a Hong Kong merchant. Together with his associates, Torrey founded American Trading Company in their attempt to develop plantation agriculture at Kimanis in 1865. This group then sold the lease to Austria's consul in Hong Kong.

International Impact
Together with Torrey and Harris, the American Trading Company of Borneo features prominently in the North Borneo Dispute as well as in the history of Sabah, a region now part of Malaysia. The region has seen various territorial disputes, including one between Malaysia and Philippines over claims over the territory. The concessions obtained by Torrey and Harris that led to the formation of American trading Company of Borneo were eventually sold to Gustav Overbeck who signed a concession agreement with the Sultan of Sulu in 1978.

To this day, the 1978 agreement written in Jawi and its interpretation forms the basis of an international dispute between Malaysia and the purported heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu empire.

The claimants filed an arbitration appeal, demanding Malaysia pay $32 billion for exploitation of resources of Sabah, claiming the 1878 agreement underscored that the territory had only been leased. Malaysia maintains that the region surrendered its rights once it agreed to join the Malaysian federation in 1963.

In February 2022, Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa awarded an almost $15 billion settlement in favor of the claimants, which Malaysia challenged at various legal forums. The International Court of Justice eventually struck down the award in 2023.