Citizens Financial

Citizens Financial

Bank  

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is an American bank headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, which operates in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Citizens was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1988 until it began to sell its holding in the bank through a phased Initial public offering (IPO). RBS sold its final 20.9% stake in the company in October 2015.

As of 2015, Citizens is the 13th-largest bank in the United States,[1] and operates more than 1,200 branches and approximately 3,200 ATMs across 11 states under the Citizens Bank brand.

Early history

Citizens was established in 1828 as the High Street Bank in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1871, the Rhode Island legislature gave a second charter to establish the Citizens Savings Bank which eventually acquired its parent group to form Citizens Trust Company. The bank then expanded through Rhode Island, opening a total of 29 branches in that state. It established Citizens Financial Group as a holding company when the bank acquired The Greenville Trust Company in 1954.

In 1985, Citizens changed status from a mutual savings bank to a federal stock savings bank. Expansion into other states began with Massachusetts in 1986.In late 2004, Citizens Financial acquired Cleveland-based Charter One Financial, parent company of Charter One Bank, with branches in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, upstate New York, and Vermont. Because Citizens Republic Bancorp of Flint, Michigan already operated under the Citizens Bank name in most of Charter One's territory, Citizens Financial elected to keep the Charter One name in Charter One's old Midwestern footprint. However, it rebranded the New York and Vermont branches as Citizens Bank.

Despite the use of the different names, the two banks were otherwise the same. Charter One was fully integrated into Citizens, and adopted an identical logo. The websites for both banks were identical, with the only difference being the name. Citizens customers could bank at Charter One locations and vice versa.

In early 2005, the Charter One name replaced the Citizens Bank banner on seven branches in Butler County, Pennsylvania. This rebranding resolved a 3½-year-old name dispute with Butler-based Citizens National Bank. By mid-2005, Citizens National and Citizens Financial agreed to a compromise. Citizens National Bank changed its name to NexTier Bank, while the Citizens Financial Group branches reverted to the "Citizens Bank" name.

In 2003, Charter One purchased Advance Bank, Inc. with 14 branches in Chicago's southern suburbs.

Financial crisis

On April 18, 2008, RBS revealed that it would post almost $8 billion in losses related to subprime mortgage securities. Less than a month earlier its CEO, Fred Goodwin, denied rumors that losses were possible.In May 2008, Citizens Financial Group failed to publicly announce that it was under investigation by the SEC for its involvement in the sub-prime mortgage crisis that devastated the U.S. housing market and bond investors around the world.

 The SEC only investigated banks it suspected of involvement in the purchase and sale of subprime securities.

A Philadelphia developer sued Citizens Bank January 27, 2010, for $8 billion, under a claim that the bank used sham accusations of default to recall loans in an effort to prop up its failing parent companies, Citizens Financial Group and "its ultimate parent, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

SunTrust Banks

SunTrust Banks

Bank  

SunTrust Banks, Inc., is an American bank holding company. The largest subsidiary is SunTrust Bank. It had US$175 billion in assets as of December 31, 2013  SunTrust Bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where its headquarters remain.

SunTrust operates 1,497 bank branches and 2,243 ATMs across Southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington.

History and acquisitions

On 21 September 1891, SunTrust's most direct corporate ancestor, the Trust Company of Georgia, was founded as the Commercial Travelers' Savings Bank. The founders were John M. Green, Joel Hurt, H. L. Atwater, W. A. Hansell, T. J. Hightower, J. G. Oglesby, J. D. Turner, John B. Daniel, Joseph Hirsch, Leon Lieberman, Louis Wellhouse, A. J. McBride, D. O. Dougherty, W. A. Gregg, W. W. Draper, A. C. Hook, W. T. Ashford, George W. Brooke, C. I. Branan and C. D. Montgomery.[

In November 1893, it restructured as a trust company and renamed itself Trust Company of Georgia The current SunTrust Banks, Inc., was the result of a merger between the Trust Company of Georgia and SunBanks, Inc., of Orlando, Florida (founded in 1934 as First National Bank of Orlando) in 1985. The merged company operated as Trust Company Bank in Georgia and Sun Bank in Florida until 1995, when all banks took the SunTrust name.

In 1986, shortly after the Trust Company–SunBanks merger, SunTrust purchased Third National Corporation of Nashville, though it continued to use the Third National name in Tennessee until 1995. SunTrust purchased Crestar Financial Corporation of Richmond, Virginia in 1998 expanding the company’s footprint into Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Crestar's (and SunTrust's) earliest predecessor, Farmers Bank of Alexandria, was founded in 1811.

In 2001, SunTrust purchased the institutional businesses of the Robinson-Humphrey Company, LLC. creating SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey.

The company bought Memphis-based National Commerce Financial Corporation (NCF) for $7 billion in 2004. The bank operated as National Bank of Commerce in South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia and as Central Carolina Bank and Trust in North Carolina. This acquisition allowed SunTrust to enter Alabama, the Carolinas and West Virginia for the first time, and substantially increased its footprint in the other states

In 2013, the bank led a bank group that included Fifth Third Bank and Florida Community Bank that helped finance the acquirement of BEL USA, the parent company that owns DiscountMugs, by Comvest Partners, a private equity firm.

In 2014, SunTrust announced it would launch a medical specialty group to work with independent medical practices.

On Sept. 16, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced the name of their new Cobb County stadium: SunTrust Park SunTrust Park, which is expected to be unveiled in time for the first pitch of the 2017 season, will serve as the new home of the Atlanta Braves. The $1.1 billion construction project in Cobb County will include restaurants, shops, offices, a hotel and residential spaces directly connected to the park. The Braves organization is making history by building out the development at the same time the stadium is being constructed.

2014 National Mortgage Settlement

In 2014, the Federal government together with state attorneys general in 49 states and the District of Columbia reached a settlement requiring SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., to provide $500 million in various forms of relief to mortgage borrowers. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered the Consent Order on September 30, 2014. The consent order addressed SunTrust's alleged misconduct regarding its mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. SunTrust was also required to create a 40 million dollar fund for the approximately 45,000 SunTrust borrowers who were foreclosed upon between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2013. In addition, SunTrust was required to adhere to significant new homeowner protections. The consent order required that SunTrust follow the servicing standards set up by the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) with the five largest banks.Controversies

In September 2015 SunTrust laid off one hundred IT professionals with a controversial severance agreement clause by SunTrust that required laid-off employees to be available to help without pay for a period of two years. On October, 23rd Suntrust reversed course and removed the clause ""to make myself reasonably available to SunTrust regarding matters in which I have been involved in the course of my employment with SunTrust and/or about which I have knowledge as a result of my employment with SunTrust.

Fifth Third Bank

Fifth Third Bank

Bank  

Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank) is a U.S. regional banking corporation, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio at Fifth Third Center, and is the principal subsidiary of holding company Fifth Third Bancorp. The company operates under an Ohio charter.

The company's main businesses include branch banking, commercial banking, consumer lending, payment processing, investment advising, and title insurance.Fifth Third Bank's corporate history began on June 17, 1858, when the Bank of the Ohio Valley opened in Cincinnati. Five years later, the Third National Bank organized on June 23, 1863. On April 29, 1871, the younger bank acquired the older one, beginning a long history of acquisitions and mergers that absorbed and renamed numerous smaller banks.

The Fifth Third name

Fifth Third's unusual name is the result of the June 1, 1908, merger of Third National Bank and Fifth National Bank, to become the Fifth-Third National Bank of Cincinnati (the hyphen was later dropped).

While Third National was the senior partner, the merger took place when prohibitionist ideas were gaining popularity, and it is legend that "Fifth Third" was better than "Third Fifth," which could have been construed as a reference to three "fifths" of alcohol.The name went through several changes over the years until March 24, 1969, when it was changed to Fifth Third Bank.

Acquisitions and mergers

In 1999, the company completed the acquisition of Enterprise Federal Bancorp Inc., one of the biggest thrifts in the Cincinnati area. The purchase, estimated at $96.4 million, added 11 branches to Fifth Third in greater Cincinnati. Fifth Third also acquired Ashland Bankshares, Inc. and its subsidiary Bank of Ashland, both based in Kentucky. The $80-million purchase gave Fifth Third four more branches and $160 million in assets. Fifth Third also began to implement plans to expand further into Florida and acquired South Florida Bank Holding Corp. in June, adding another four branches to its Florida roster. Additional expansion into the Cleveland area came with the $204-million acquisition of Emerald Financial Corp. Fifth Third also acquired Cleveland-based Emerald Financial Corp. and its subsidiary, Strongsville Savings Bank.

In November 2000, Fifth Third announced the purchase of Old Kent Bank of Western Michigan. This added more than 300 full-service banking centers in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

Acquisitions and mergers

In 1999, the company completed the acquisition of Enterprise Federal Bancorp Inc., one of the biggest thrifts in the Cincinnati area. The purchase, estimated at $96.4 million, added 11 branches to Fifth Third in greater Cincinnati. Fifth Third also acquired Ashland Bankshares, Inc. and its subsidiary Bank of Ashland, both based in Kentucky. The $80-million purchase gave Fifth Third four more branches and $160 million in assets. Fifth Third also began to implement plans to expand further into Florida and acquired South Florida Bank Holding Corp. in June, adding another four branches to its Florida roster. Additional expansion into the Cleveland area came with the $204-million acquisition of Emerald Financial Corp. Fifth Third also acquired Cleveland-based Emerald Financial Corp. and its subsidiary, Strongsville Savings Bank.

In November 2000, Fifth Third announced the purchase of Old Kent Bank of Western Michigan. This added more than 300 full-service banking centers in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

In May 2007, Fifth Third announced the acquisition of R-G Crown Bank of Casselberry, Florida, a transaction that closed in the fourth quarter of 2007 and which added 30 branches in Florida and three in Georgia.

On August 16, 2007, Fifth Third announced the purchase of First Charter Bank of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fifth Third bought the branches, it would have greatly expanded the bank's presence in the Pittsburgh region where Fifth Third has opened a small handful of branches over the past few years as opposed to acquiring a rival bank, as well as enter the Erie market. Ultimately, PNC sold the bulk of the overlapping branches to First Niagara Bank. In 2015, Fifth Third announced it would exit the Pittsburgh market by selling its retail branches to locally-based FNB Corporation, but it would continue to do commercial banking in Pittsburgh.\Controversies.

2014 Discrimination Settlement

In August 2014, the Department of Justice filed a settlement with Fifth Third Mortgage Company resolving allegations that the bank engaged in a pattern of discrimination on the basis of disability and receipt of public assistance in violation of Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Under the settlement, Fifth Third was required to establish a settlement fund of $1.5 million to compensate eligible mortgage loan applicants who were asked to provide a letter from their doctor to document the income they received from Social Security Disability Insurance.

2007 data breach

In January 2007, The New York Times published an article entitled Data Breach Could Affect Millions stating "Yesterday, Fifth Third Bank of Cincinnati was identified as the sponsoring bank that handles TJX’s accounts, which makes it responsible for ensuring that the retailer met the industry’s data security standards t was later found that potentially 45.7 million credit card numbers were compromised. This, from the Associated Press, "TJX says its computer systems were first breached in July 2005 by a hacker or hackers who accessed information from customer transactions dating to January 2003. TJX says it didn’t learn of the breach until about three months ago.... The filing also says, “We believe that the intruder had access to the decryption tool for the encryption software utilized .

Capital One Capital

Capital One Capital

Bank  

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products. When measured in terms of total assets and deposits, Capital One is the eighth-largest bank holding company in the United States. As of 2012, The bank has 963 Capital One Bank Branches  ncluding 10 café style locations for their Capital One 360 brand On July 27, 1994, Richmond, Virginia-based Signet Financial Corp announced the spin off of its credit card division, OakStone Financial, naming Richard Fairbank as CEO[12] (Signet Banking Corp is now part of Wells Fargo). Signet renamed the subsidiary Capital One in October of that year.[13] The spinoff was concluded February 28, 1995, making Capital One fully independent. Unlike other diversified financial services firms, Capital One began as a "monoline", meaning the vast majority of its business was in consumer lending, particularly credit cards. Remaining a monoline is risky, as it can be very profitable industry in good times, and markedly unprofitable in bad. Most consumer-lending monolines in the past twenty years have either gone out of business (e.g., The Money Store, NextCard, Royal Acceptance) or have been acquired (e.g., MBNA, Beneficial, First USA); Capital One is notable for having experienced neither. 

Capital One Auto Finance

Capital One Auto Financial Corporation is the parent company of Capital One Auto Finance Company, based in Plano, Texas The company includes Summit Acceptance Corporation, which Capital One acquired in July 1998, and PeopleFirst Finance LLC, which was acquired in October 2001. The companies were combined and rebranded as Capital One Auto Finance Corporation in 2003. As of 2012, Capital One Auto Finance is the largest Internet auto lender, as well as one of the top US auto lenders overall.

The company, which previously sold auto loans only through direct mail and auto dealerships, lets auto owners refinance existing auto loans and shoppers apply for new auto loans online. A decision usually comes within 15 minutes, after which the buyer receives a "blank check" for up to the approved auto loan amount, which the buyer uses to purchase a car. To the dealership, it is as if the buyer were paying cash. The checks can be used to purchase a new or used vehicle, or to refinance an existing auto loan with another lender.

CapitalOne 360

CapitalOne 360 is an online banking division of Capital One. The division originated in a separate company, ING Direct, which was founded in 2000 in Wilmington, Delaware as a brand for a branchless direct bank. In September 2007, ING Direct acquired 104,000 customers and FDIC insured assets from the failed virtual bank NetBank.Two months later, ING Direct acquired online stock broker Sharebuilder.Since 2001, Capital One has been the principal sponsor of the college football Florida Citrus Bowl, rebranding it the Capital One Bowl in 2003. It sponsors a mascot challenge every year, announcing the winner on the day of the Capital One Bowl. Capital One is one of the top three sponsors of the NCAA, paying an estimated $35 million annually in exchange for advertising and access to consumer data.

wo months later, ING Direct acquired online stock broker Sharebuilder.

In June 2011, Capital One Financial Corporation purchased ING Direct USA from its Netherlands based parent, ING Group, paying US$9 billion (€6.3 billion). The sale was completed on June 16, 2011 with the CEO of ING Group at that time Jan Hommen saying the sale "marks a further important step in the restructuring of ING Group. Yet at the same time we are saying goodbye to a very successful business and a dedicated teamFollowing the acquisition, ING direct was rebranded Capital One 360

American Express

American Express

Bank  

The American Express Company, also known as Amex, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan's Three World Financial Center in New York City, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe company is best known for its credit card, charge card, and traveler's cheque businesses. Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US.

Early history

In 1850, American Express was started as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William G. Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson & Company).Wells and Fargo also started Wells Fargo & Co. in 1852 when Butterfield and other directors objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to California.

American Express initially established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what was later called the Tribeca section of Manhattan. For years it enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of express shipments (goods, securities, currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becoming the Financial District of Manhattan, a location it was to retain through two buildings.

American Express buildings

In 1854, the American Express Co. purchased a lot on Vesey Street in New York City as the site for its stables. The company's first New York headquarters was an 1858 marble Italianate palazzo at 55–61 Hudson Street, which had a busy freight depot on the ground story with a spur line from the Hudson River Railroad. A stable was constructed in 1867, five blocks north at 4–8 Hubert Street.

The company prospered sufficiently that headquarters were moved in 1874 from the wholesale shipping district to the budding Financial District, and into rented offices in two five-story brownstone commercial buildings at 63 and 65 Broadway that were owned by the Harmony family.

In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place. The designer is unknown, but it has a façade of brick arches that are redolent of pre-skyscraper New York. American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears a terracotta seal with the American Express Eagle.

ten-story building by Edward H. Kendall on the site of its former headquarters on Hudson Street.

By 1903, the company had assets of some $28 million, second only to the National City Bank of New York among financial institutions in the city. To reflect this, the company purchased the Broadway buildings and site.

At the end of the Wells-Fargo reign in 1914, an aggressive new president, George Chadbourne Taylor (1868–1923), who had worked his way up through the company over the previous thirty years, decided to build a new headquarters. The old buildings, dubbed by the New York Times as "among the ancient landmarks" of lower Broadway, were inadequate for such a rapidly expanding concern. After some delays due to the war in Europe, the 21-story neo-classical American Express Co. Building was constructed in 1916–17 to the design of James L. Aspinwall, of the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, the successor to the architectural practice of the eminent James Renwick, Jr.. The building consolidated the two lots of the former buildings with a single address: 65 Broadway. This building was part of the "Express Row" section of lower Broadway at the time. The building completed the continuous masonry wall of its block-front and assisted in transforming Broadway into the "canyon" of neo-classical masonry office towers familiar to this day.American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other express companies (including Wells Fargo – the replacement for the two former companies that merged to form American Express), railroads, and steamship companies.

Financial services

In 1882, American Express started its expansion in the area of financial services by launching a money order business[13] to compete with the United States Post Office's money orders.

Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J. C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the letter of credit. Berry introduced the American Express Traveler's Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.[17]

Traveler's cheques established American Express as a truly international company. In 1914, at the onset of World War I, American Express in Europe was among the few companies to honor the letters of credit (issued by various banks) held by Americans in Europe, because other financial institutions refused to assist these stranded travelers.