On February 23, 1784, a small advertisement appeared in The New York Packet, one of the many New York newspapers of that era. This advertisement announced that prominent New York citizens had established a bank. The bank, established by the prominent, would not officially open for business until June 9, 1784. That bank would come to be known as the bank of New York. Alexander Hamilton, a well-known New York attorney, was asked to write the constitution of the new bank.
He complied and therefore Alexander Hamilton was credited with the founding of the Bank of New York. The Bank of New York is the oldest bank in New York and along with that is one of the oldest banks in the world since banking the way we know it today began in the 18th century. Alexander Hamilton later went on to become the Secretary of the Treasury in President George Washington’s first cabinet. In 1789, Hamilton negotiated the first loan obtained by the new Democratic government.
The amount of the loan was $200,000, and was issued by The Bank of New York. Hence, not only is the Bank of New York one of the oldest banks in the world, but it is also a historic one because it was the first bank in the United States to issue a loan. Adding to that historic feeling, when the New York Stock Exchange was created in 1792, the first stock traded was the Bank of New York’s stock. The Bank of New York played a major role in the economic growth in the New York metropolitan area. The Bank was also involved with the growth of transportation.
The construction of the Morris Canal in New Jersey and the Erie Canal in New York were partially funded by the Bank, which also provided financing to the steamboat companies that benefited from these waterways. Through investments in nearly every railroad and utility, as well as in the construction of the New York City subway system, the Bank of New York continued to provide vital capital to the expanding American economy. However, far more emphasis was given to conservative practices and retaining the confidence of our customers.
That policy enabled the bank to survive the economic turmoil of the early twentieth century. Throughout its 200-year history, the Bank of New York has been involved in many mergers and acquisitions. Through mergers with the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company, The Fifth Avenue Bank, and the Empire Trust Company, the Bank expanded its presence in New York and its ability to provide financial services to businesses and individuals throughout Manhattan. In 1969, through the establishment of a bank holding company, the Bank expanded beyond New York City, establishing a suburban branch network that remains today.
Global expansion began with an office in London in 1966, but a major breakthrough occurred with the acquisition of The Irving Bank Corporation in 1988. This acquisition created the tenth largest bank at that time and set the stage for what the Bank of New York is today. The acquisitions of National Community Banks in New Jersey and The Putnam Trust Company in Connecticut in the 1990’s continued the expansion of the Bank of New York’s branch network. The Bank of New York has had a series of business acquisitions in securities servicing that enabled them to become a recognized leader in that area.
Over the last several decades, the corporate branch of the Bank of New York has come to be known as a banker to the largest corporations in America and in special industries such as telecommunications and energy. In closing, it is rare for a business or institution to last over 200 years as has the Bank of New York. It was able to do so by adapting to the times and providing excellent services to its clients. The Bank of New York provides services to many entities on a worldwide basis.
Primarily, the goal of the Bank of New York here in the United States is to provide financial services to individuals, businesses, public entities, and government entities. The Bank of New York provides individuals with a wide range of services. Individuals can have checking and savings accounts as well as CD’s, and debit accounts. Individuals can access account information from various sources. Telephone banking is a service, available to all customers, where they can check balances, transfer funds, make loan payments and obtain account information over the telephone.
The Bank of New York provides the same services at all of their ATMs. The Bank of New York also services its customers with loans when they need them. Such loans include personal loans, student loans, auto loans, home equity loans, and mortgages. In addition to loans, the Bank of New York also provides investment services for its individual customers. The Bank of New York has an investment center that can provide customers with mutual funds, personal asset management services, and tax-exempt management.
Finally, the Bank of New York provides individuals with private banking services. The bank of New York provides personal banking services such as financial planning, trust and estates, lending services, deposit services and international private banking. Businesses also benefit from The Bank of New York’s wide range of services. The Bank of New York caters to the needs of different types of businesses. The Bank of New York has small business banking as well as commercial banking, international banking, securities services, and investment/treasury management.
In its small business department, the Bank of New York has available to its customers an extensive range of banking services. The Bank of New York has 24 hour banking services, business checking and savings accounts, cash management, employee benefits programs, and retirement planning services. In addition, it has small business loans, trade services, business tax payment services and merchant services available to all small business clients. The bulk of the Bank of New York’s clients are involved in the Bank’s commercial banking services.
Commercial banking services provided by the Bank of New York include: collateral management services, fixed income trading, foreign exchange, global liquidity services, mutual funds services and money manager tools. In addition to the above mentioned, commercial customers can also enjoy services such as offshore fund services, retirement services, securities lending, interest rate derivatives, and currency management. The Bank of New York’s international banking services are much like the commercial service with some differences here and there.
International banking services provided by the Bank of New York include corporate trust services, international cash management, offshore funds services, and international money manager tools. The Bank of New York also has an extensive amount of securities services available to customers. The Bank of New York provides customers with broker/dealer clearance services, brokerage/execution services, corporate trusts, depository receipts, performance measurements, stock transfers, and unit investment trusts.
Public and government entities, although different from regular customers, enjoy the same services that all other customers enjoy. The only major difference in services is that they are performed on a much larger scale for government entities. Government entities might need services to be performed on many aspects of the government financial market at once. Whereas, a public entity might have services performed on all of its clients to get one lump sum amount of money either owed or held by them.