Bank of New York

The Bank of New York is one of the largest asset management and securities servicing companies worldwide, which was established in July 2007.

The Bank of New York was a pioneering financial institution, created by the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton in June 1784. The Major General from the war, Alexander McDougall, became president. The bank got its charter in 1791 and kept on updating it throughout the era of free banking, when only state-chartered financial institutions functioned. The Bank of New York was the first one traded on the New York Stock Exchange when it opened in 1792. In 1865, the body was re-chartered to become a national bank, within the framework of the National Banking Act. The Bank of New York, already merged with the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, managed to get out from the Great Depression stable and fortified financially. New mergers followed, one with the Fifth Avenue Bank in 1948, and with the Empire Trust Company in 1966. An important development for the establishment was the opening of its offices in London, which introduced the bank as an important international financial service provider. The growth of the bank outside New York was handled by the holding company, founded in 1969.

The other key predecessor of The Bank of New York Mellon was the Pennsylvanian “T. Mellon & Son’s Bank,” which was later renamed to Mellon Financial. The body was founded in 1869 by Thomas Mellon and was inherited by his sons. In 1946, it merged with another enterprise in the same family – the Union Trust Company.

The merger of the Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation took place on December 4th, 2006. The so-tailored Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) operates $20.2 trillion worth in assets under custody, $8 trillion under trusteeship, and $928 billion under management, becoming one of the top asset management institutions in the world. The bank combines Mellon Financial’s asset and wealth management with Bank of New York’s activities of commercial trust, brokerage, and depository receipt and government bonds. The structure also provides advisory, treasury, and issuance services. This mixture ensured a flexible market positioning and diverse opportunities. Both constitutive banks had stripped off their retail banking units, Bank of New York - to JPMorgan Chase, and Mellon – to Citizens Financial Group. In respond to the recent global financial crisis, The Bank of New York Mellon laid off 4% of its worldwide work force.

Commercial Banks Guide > Bank of New York