National Bank of Canada
National Bank of Canada is the sixth largest bank in Canada, and so is one of the Big Six banks. The bank's headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, and it has 546 branches nationwide, including 454 in Quebec. The bank also has representative offices or branches in Beirut, Havana, Hong Kong, Seoul, Paris, Nassau, and New York, and a subsidiary in Florida.
History
- 1859: Eugène Chinic, Isodore Thibodeau, Ulric-Joseph Tessier, Olivier Robitaille, Cirice Têtu, David Dussault, Prudent Vallée and other citizens of Quebec decide to create the Banque Nationale, an institution by and for the francophone community. The legislature permits the bank to incorporate.
- 1860: Banque Nationale commences operations.
- 1924: Banque Nationale is caught up in a serious recession. It merges with Banque d'Hochelaga (est. in Montréal in 1874) to form Banque Canadienne Nationale (BCN).
- 1976: BCN establishes an agency in New York.
- 1979: BCN merges with the Provincial Bank of Canada/Banque provinciale du Canada to form the Banque Nationale du Canada (BNC; National Bank of Canada).
- 1983: The New York agency becomes a branch.
- 1985: BNC acquires Mercantile Bank of Canada from Citibank. Mercantile has an office in New York (licensed 1984), which BNC merges in.
- 1987 NBC swaps US$4 million of restructured bad loans for one-tenth of Banco Osorno y La Union, a Chilean bank.
- 1993: BNC acquires the assets of General Trust of Canada (est. 1927).
- 1994: BNC establishes a US subsidiary, Natbank, with a branch in Pompano Beach in Florida. BNC also establishes a representative office in Mexico City.
- 1995: Natbank opens its second branch and a head office in Hollywood, Florida. BNC opens an office in Havana in response to the passage of a new law in Cuba authorizing foreign bank representative offices.
- 1996: BNC acquires Family Trust Corporation and The Municipal Savings & Loans Corporation, both in Ontario. Also, BNC sells its stake in Banco Osorno y la Union to Santander, which acquires the bank.
- 2001: BNC acquires 17 branches in Quebec from Bank of Montreal.
