1672 - Richard Hoare founded Hoares Bank at the sign of the Golden Bottle in Cheapside, London.

1690 - John Freame and Thomas Gould founded goldsmith-banking business in Lombard Street, England; 1736 - James Barclay became a partner (married Freame's daughter); 1896 - 20 private banks formed new joint-stock bank (connected by family, business, religious relationships); named Barclay and Company; became known as Quaker Bank (family tradition of founding families); 182 branches, mainly in East and South East, deposits of £26 million (173 banks taken over after 1896);  1918 - merged London, Provincial, South Western Bank, became one of UK's 'big five' banks; 1925 - merger of three banks (Colonial Bank, Anglo Egyptian Bank, National Bank of South Africa) formed Barclays international operations (Africa, the Middle East, West Indies); 1926 - 1,837 outlets; 1969 - acquired Martins Bank, largest UK bank with head office outside London; 1981 - first foreign bank to file with SEC, raised long-term capital on the New York market; 1986 - first British bank to list shares on Tokyo and New York stock exchanges; 1995 - acquired fund manager Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisers, merged with BZW Investment Management, formed Barclays Global Investors; 2000 - acquired Woolwich, leading mortgage bank and former building society (founded in 1847).

1695 - Bank of Scotland founded.

1784 - Massachusetts Bank received charter (John Hancock signed charter); first nationally chartered bank; 1786 - financed first American ship to sail to China; 1791 - financed first ship to sail to Argentina; 1864 - became national bank, renamed Massachusetts National Bank of Boston; 1903 - merged with First National Bank of Boston; later named Bank of Boston; 1970 - reorganized under new holding company, First National Boston Corporation; 1983 - name changed to Bank of Boston Corporation;  1995 - merged with BayBank, name changed to BankBoston; 1999 -merged Fleet Financial Group; 2001 - eighth-largest U.S. financial holding company, dominant bank in New England; 2003 - acquired by Bank of America for $48 billion.

November 3, 1817 - The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opened in Montreal, Quebec.

December 4, 1819 - Sir William Congreve received a patent for colored watermark paper; triple-paper process for colored watermarks (introduction of color into interior of paper) consisted of overlaying very thin couched sheet of white paper with layer containing a design of colored pulp, overlaying that with another very thin white couched sheet; three layers pressed, dried; colored watermark only visible when paper held up to light; ; improvements in manufacture of bank-note paper for prevention of forgery.

February 24, 1823 - John C. Morrison, one of largest wholesale druggists, and others incorporated New York Chemical Manufacturing Company; produced medicines, paints, dyes at plant in Greenwich Village, New York City; April 1, 1824 - used excess capital to obtain charter for Chemical Bank (opened August 2, 1824 at 216 Broadway); Balthazar ("Baltus") P. Melick, prosperous wholesale grocer, first president; 1832 - focused entirely on banking (away from manufacture of drugs); 1954 - merged with Corn Exchange Bank Trust Company; changed name to Chemical Corn Exchange Bank; 1959 - merged with New York Trust Company; name changed to Chemical Bank New York Trust Company (branches in all boroughs); 1969 - changed name to Chemical Bank; installed first prototype cash-dispensing machine in America; first bank in country to allow customers to withdraw cash 24 hours a day; with Manufacturers Hanover entered national credit card business as founding members of Eastern States Bankcard Association; issued cards under Master Charge Plan (now MasterCard), direct competitor of BankAmericard; 1975 - tested point-of-sale credit card terminals using common switching facilities (enabled retailers to use one terminal to authorize either MasterCard or BankAmericard transaction); greater convenience for retailers, faster transaction approvals for card users; 1983 - introduced Pronto, first major full-fledged online banking service; 1985 - with Manufacturers Hanover among founders of NYCE (New York Cash Exchange), first automatic teller network in New York metropolitan area; 1987 - acquired Texas Commerce Bancshares, largest interstate banking merger in U.S. history at time; 1991 - combined with Manufacturers Hanover Corp., kept Chemical Banking Corp. name; second-largest banking institution in United States; 1996 - merged with Chase Manhattan Corp., created largest bank holding company in United States.

1836 - William Wilson Corcoran (formerly of Second bank of the United States) opened note brokerage house in Washington DC; 1840 - formed partnership with George Washington Riggs, Corcoran & Riggs, to offer depository, checking services; 1844 - chosen by U.S. government as sole federal depository in Washington; 1854 - Corcoran interest acquired by Riggs, name changed to Riggs & Co.; 1881 - Charles Carroll Glover took over; 1896 - accepted national banking charter, name changed to The Riggs National Bank; 1920 - accepted savings deposits, established trust department; 1980 - formed Riggs National Corporation as holding company; 2004 - acquired by PNC Financial Services Group (Pittsburgh) for $779 million; bank for twenty-one First Families.

1855 - The Bank of Toronto incorporated; 1856 - opened first branch on Church Street in Toronto (above); 1871 - The Dominion Bank opened first branch on King Street in Toronto; 1955 - The Bank of Toronto merged with The Dominion Bank, formed The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

1856 - Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, Swiss Credit Institution) founded in Zürich, Switzerland; 1988 - acquired controlling stake in The First Boston Corporation; 1993 - acquired Schweizerische Volksbank (People's Bank of Switzerland); 1996 - CS Holding became Credit Suisse Group (holding company for Credit Suisse and Credit Suisse First Boston); January 16, 2006 - First Boston name dropped; second-largest Swiss bank, behind UBS AG.

March 24, 1856 - Pascal Paoli Pratt (37), owner of Pratt and Co. Hardware, Pratt and Letchworth Ironworks, Bronson Case Rumsey (32) held first meeting of 13 stockholders of Manufacturers and Traders Bank in Buffalo, NY; August 29, 1856 - opened; Henry Martin, former president of Buffalo and Attica Railroad, as president; December 16, 1925 - merged with Fidelity Trust Company; name changed to Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company; 1969 - stockholders voted to create multi-bank holding company, First Empire State Corporation (assets of $2 billion, 60 offices); 1995 - formed national bank subsidiary, M&T Bank, N.A.; 1998 - 37th largest owned bank in United States ($20 billion in assets, 256 branches, more than 6,000 employees); name changed to M&T Bank Corporation; 2007 - $65 billion in assets, one of 20 largest commercial bank holding companies headquartered in U.S.

May 15, 1857 - Emilio Botín y Lopez founded Banco de Santander in city of Santander, in Spain's Cantabria region, to finance trade with Latin America; one branch, 13 employees, 72 shareholders; January 14, 1875 - incorporated; 1925 - opened his first office outside the region, in Osorno (Palencia); 1986 - 6th largest bank in Spain (assets); initiated customer-friendly retail banking strategy, acquired more than 30 banks from Bilbao to Brazil (estimated more than $40 billion in acquisitions, nearly $13 billion in Latin America); 1994 - paid $2 billion for 60% stake in Banesto, well-known retail bank; 1999 - became number one in Spain with $9.6 billion acquisition of Banco Centro Hispano; November 20, 2000 - took 33% stake in do Estado de São Paulo (Banespa), seventh-largest bank in Brazil, for $3.555 billion (five times book value, 281% premium above estimated minimum economic value of $945 million); September 2004 - acquired British mortgage lender Abbey National, UK's sixth largest bank, for approximately $15 billion, created Europe's fourth-largest bank in terms of market capitalization; largest cross-border banking acquisition ever in EU; December 31, 2005 - Banco Santander Central Hispano 9th largest bank in world; 2008 - largest bank in euro zone by
market capitalization, seventh in world by profit

November 23, 1860 - As the "Banking Panic" of 1857 stretched into next decade, New York Clearing House made its first loan of $7.375 million worth of certificates to nation's ailing banks.

June 24, 1861 - Twentsche Bankvereeniging established in Amsterdam as partnership; October 1869 - name changed to Twentsche Bankvereeniging B.W. Blijdenstein & Co. (TBV); January 1, 1917 - became limited liability company, renamed Twentsche Bank (TB); had developed from family-run business to full merchant bank; January 1, 1931 - branches of local banks converted to TB branches; October 3, 1964 - merged with Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij, formed Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN Bank).

1862 - Bank in Winterthur, Switzerland, opened (east of Zurich); initial share capital of 5 million Swiss Francs; 1863 - Toggenburger Bank opened in Lichtensteig (small town in Eastern Switzerland); initial share capital of 1.5 million Swiss Francs; 1912 - The Bank in Winterthur merged with Toggenburger Bank, formed Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft; French name - Union de Banques Suisses (UBS); total assets of 202 million Swiss francs, shareholders' equity of 46 million Swiss francs, profit of 2.4 million Swiss francs; 1920 - employed more than 1,000 persons (1289); 1921 - name changed to Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS); 1962 - largest bank in Switzerland; assets of 6.96 billion Swiss francs; 1995 - Credit Suisse Group became number one in Switzerland (total assets of 412 billion Swisss francs) after acquisition of Swiss Volksbank and Winterthur Insurance; June 27/28, 1998 - merged with Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC); renamed UBS AG; one of largest banks in Europe, world's largest Private Banking and Asset Management institution (client funds of 1,320 billion Swiss francs), among four largest financial services companies in world (market capitalization of 85 billion Swiss francs); August 2004 - named world’s 45th most valuable brand (worth $6.5 billion) in Global Brand Scoreboard published in BusinessWeek.

September 1, 1868 - Isaias William Hellman founded Hellman, Temple and Co., Los Angeles's second (but first successful) bank; April 3, 1871 - with  John G. Downey  founded Farmers and Merchants Bank (lent money to Harrison Gray Otis to buy the Los Angeles Times, to Henry Huntington to build Pacific Electric line); first incorporated bank in Los Angeles; 1956 - merged with Security First National Bank (formed by 1929 merger of Security Bank with Los Angeles First National Trust and Savings Bank, 8th largest bank in US); later named Security Pacific National Bank; 1992 - acquired by Bank of America.

1870 - Dexter Horton founded Seattle's first bank, later named Seafirst.

December 5, 1871 - Group of mainly German banks, led by Bank für Handel und Industrie of Darmstadt, established Amsterdamsche Bank (AB) in Amsterdam to create Dutch bank that would be instrumental in bonding Dutch, German money markets; 1911 - took over number of local banks, turned them into branches; October 1947 - Amsterdamsche Bank merged=r agreement with Incasso-Bank; considerably expanded AB's branch network; 1964 - AB merged with Rotterdamsche Bank, created Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank (Amro Bank), registered in Amsterdam.

1872 - Basler Bankverein opened in Basle; nominal share capital of 30 million Swiss Francs (6 million paid-up); 1896 - merged with Zürcher Bankverein, established Basler and Zürcher Bankverein; after take-over of Basler Depositen-Bank, name changed to Schweizerischer Bankverein; 1917 - name changed to Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC); 1918 - assets exceeded one billion Swiss francs (1001.5 million) for first time; June 27/28, 1998 - merged with UBS; renamed UBS AG; one of largest banks in Europe, world's largest Private Banking and Asset Management institution (client funds of 1,320 billion Swiss francs), among four largest financial services companies in world (market capitalization of 85 billion Swiss francs).

July 11, 1874 - John W. Hinds, W. L. Tisdale, G. P. Starks founded Farmers National Gold Bank in San Jose, CA; 1880 - name changed to First National Bank of San Jose; 1979 - name changed to Bank of the West; 1998 - merged with Honolulu-based First Hawaiian Bank; new holding company named BancWest Corporation; May 2002 - BNP Paribas, largest shareholder, acquired balance of stock; merging United California bank (UCB) into Bank of the West, formed institution with $25 billion in assets, 6,000 employees; 2006 - operated nearly 680 banking locations in 19 Western, Midwestern states; third-largest Western-based commercial bank in U.S.

June 6, 1879 - William A. Lemly, president of Bank of Salem since 1874, moved bank to Winston-Salem, NC; renamed Wachovia National Bank; 1911 - merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust (founded June 15, 1893 by Francis H. Fries as North Carolina's first trust company); formed Wachovia Bank and Trust Company; largest bank in South, largest trust operation between Baltimore and New Orleans (deposits of $4 million); December 12, 1986 - acquired First Atlanta (founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865; later renamed First National Bank of Atlanta); September 4, 2001 - merged with First Union Corporation; renamed Wachovia Corporation; November 1, 2004 - acquired SouthTrust Corporation (Birmingham, AL) for $14.3 billion; largest bank in the southeast, fourth largest bank in United States (in terms of holdings), second largest bank (in terms of number of branches); March 1, 2006 - acquired WFS Financial Inc., ninth-largest auto finance lender in U.S. auto finance market; 2007 - fourth largest bank holding company in United States (based on assets), third largest U.S. full-service brokerage firm based on client assets.

October 1886 - William H. Crocker (son of Charles Crocker), R. C. Woolworth, W. E. Brown incorporated Crocker-Woolworth National Bank (founded 1883 as Crocker-Woolworth & Co. private bank); 1893 - Crocker succeeded as President; September 1, 1906 - became The Crocker National Bank of San Francisco; 1986 - acquired by Wells Fargo.

July 1, 1891 - Officers, directors from Third National Bank (founded 1863, merged with Shawmut bank in 1901) chartered State Street Deposit & Trust Company in Boston, MA; 1897 - name changed to State Street Trust Company; 1899 - Allan Forbes joined bank, deposits grew from less than $2 million to more than $187 million (1955); 1924 - named custodian of first U.S. mutual fund; 1925 - merged with National Union Bank of Boston (chartered June 25, 1792 by Governor John Hancock as third bank chartered in Massachusetts; national charter in 1865); 1955 - State Street merged with Second National Bank; 1960 - incorporated as State Street Boston Financial Corp. (one-bank holding company); 1961 - merged with Rockland-Atlas National Bank (chartered in 1863), formed State Street Bank and Trust Company; 1975 - changed focus to securities processing; 1977 - name changed to State Street Boston Corporation; 1991 - assets under custody surpassed $1 trillion; 37th largest holding company in United States; 1992 - assets under management reached $100 billion; 1997 - name changed to State Street Corporation; 1999 - total assets under custody of $6 trillion, assets under management exceeded $600 billion; 2001 - 24th consecutive year of double-digit operating EPS growth; 2003 - acquired substantial parts of Deutsche Bank's Global Securities Services (GSS); largest U.S. mutual fund custodian (responsible for more than 40% of more than $1 trillion in securities held by America's mutual funds).

March 10, 1902 - Attorney General Philander Knox filed an anti-trust suit against J. P. Morgan's Northern Securities Company; case revolved around whether or not Northern Securities, New Jersey-based holding concern for Morgan's western railroad business, violated Sherman Anti-Trust Act; early 1904 - Supreme Court ruled against Northern Securities, handed Theodore Roosevelt and Knox high-profile victory in war on trusts.

August 9, 1904 - Libanus McLouth Todd, of Rochester, NY received patent for a "Printing Stamp" ("particularly adapted for marking or embossing on checks, drafts, and similar instruments words or figures indicating a limiting amount beyond which such instrument is not good"); the protectograph; protected against check forgers; March 14, 1905 - received a second patent for a "Printing-Stamp" ("construction of the device is simplified, but the operations necessary to effect the marking of the check may be readily accomplished and the marking surfaces or forms readily changed to bring one or the other of the series contained on the printing-wheel in position for printing").

November 23, 1907 - C. J. and Carrie Walker founded Farmers and Merchants Bank in Long Beach, CA (assets of $25,000); 1938 - Gus Walker (son) became President; 1979 - Kenneth G. Walker (grandson) named President; largest sector - commercial real estate lending; 2007 - assets of $3 billion.

June 2, 1908