Liberty Bank

Last updated

Liberty Bank
Company typeBank
Industry Mutual savings bank
Founded1825
(as Middletown Savings Bank)
Headquarters,
Number of locations
63 (2021)
Key people
David W. Glidden (CEO)
Website liberty-bank.com
Liberty Bank locations in Connecticut as of 2017 LibertyBank LocatorMapCT.svg
Liberty Bank locations in Connecticut as of 2017

Liberty Bank is the oldest mutual savings bank in the United States, [1] as well as the third largest bank in Connecticut. [2] Liberty Bank is headquartered in Middletown, Connecticut and has 62 banking offices throughout the state, and one in western Massachusetts. [3] Liberty Bank offers consumer and commercial banking, home mortgages, insurance, and investment services.

Contents

History

Established in 1825 as Middletown Savings Bank, [2] [4] in 1844, an account was opened with a balance of $26, and left untouched for 150 years until it was finally closed in 1994. By that time it was the oldest direct descendancy savings account in the United States and had grown to over $32,000 on interest alone. [4]

The Liberty Bank Foundation was established in 1997 to provide grants to non-profit organizations which improve the quality of life for people of low or moderate income. [1]

In 2001, Liberty Bank merged with Hometown Bank, [5] gaining their three offices, and added another new branch. In 2003, Liberty Bank broke ground on its first affordable housing complex: Uncas Condominiums, [2] in Norwich. The company then opened another office, bringing the total number of branches to 34. In 2005, Liberty Bank introduced the state's first checking account to offer rebates of other banks' ATM surcharges. Liberty Bank added a branch in Wethersfield in 2008, one in Niantic in 2009, and relocated its Cromwell branch in 2010 and First Liberty Bank part of Liberty Bank.

In 2013, Liberty Bank merged with The Bank of Southern Connecticut, and thus gained four more branches: two in New Haven, one in Branford and one in North Haven (which merged with their existing North Haven branch). They also opened Bristol and Southington in 2013, bringing the total to 50 branches. [6]

In 2021, it had $7.4 billion in assets, and an annual net income of $81.2 million. [7] On March 4, 2019, The Hartford Courant reported that Liberty Bank was settling a lawsuit filed in 2018 by the Connecticut Fair Housing Center and the National Consumer Law Center, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act. [8] The lawsuit concerned race bias. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redlining</span> Systemic denial of services to some areas

Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities. Redlining has been most prominent in the United States, and has mostly been directed against African-Americans. The most common examples involve denial of credit and insurance, denial of healthcare, and the development of food deserts in minority neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of America</span> American multinational banking and financial services corporation

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with investment banking and auxiliary headquarters in Manhattan. The bank was founded by the merger of NationsBank and Bank of America in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization, both after JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves about 10 percent of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Bysiewicz</span> American politician (born 1961)

Susan Bysiewicz is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut since 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2011 and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webster Bank</span> American regional bank

Webster Bank is an American commercial bank based in Stamford, Connecticut. It has 177 branches and 316 ATMs located in Connecticut; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; New Jersey; Westchester County, New York; Orange County, New York; Ulster County, New York; Rockland County, New York; and New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Company</span> US electric street railway company

The Connecticut Company was the primary electric street railway company in the U.S. state of Connecticut, operating both city and rural trolleys and freight service. It was controlled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which also controlled most steam railroads in the state. After 1936, when one of its major leases was dissolved, it continued operating streetcars and, increasingly, buses in certain Connecticut cities until 1976, when its assets were purchased by the state government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's United Financial</span> American banking company

People's United Financial, Inc., was an American bank holding company that owned People's United Bank. The bank operated 403 branches in Connecticut, southeastern New York State, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. It was the second-largest full-service bank in New England, one of the largest in the northeast, and the 46th-largest in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartford and New Haven Railroad</span> Defunct railroad in Connecticut and Massachusetts

The Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH), chartered in 1833, was the first railroad built in the state of Connecticut and an important direct predecessor of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The company was formed to connect the cities of New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts. It built northwards from New Haven, opening its first segment in 1838, and reaching Hartford in December 1839. The company reached Springfield in 1844 under the auspices of the Hartford and Springfield Railroad, a subsidiary chartered in Massachusetts. Branches were later built to Suffield, New Britain, and Middletown and operated by the Hartford and New Haven. The H&NH merged with the New York and New Haven Railroad in 1872, forming the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Fargo</span> American multinational banking and financial services company

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important financial institution according to the Financial Stability Board, and is considered one of the "Big Four Banks" in the United States, alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

Matthew L. Lesser is an American politician who represents the 9th district in the Connecticut State Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the State House in 2008, and re-elected in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. He won election to the state Senate from the 9th district in 2018, and was reelected in 2020 and 2022. Lesser unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Connecticut Secretary of the State in 2022.

Bank regulation in the United States is highly fragmented compared with other G10 countries, where most countries have only one bank regulator. In the U.S., banking is regulated at both the federal and state level. Depending on the type of charter a banking organization has and on its organizational structure, it may be subject to numerous federal and state banking regulations. Apart from the bank regulatory agencies the U.S. maintains separate securities, commodities, and insurance regulatory agencies at the federal and state level, unlike Japan and the United Kingdom. Bank examiners are generally employed to supervise banks and to ensure compliance with regulations.

United Bank was an American bank headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and had locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The bank was acquired in 2019 by People's United Financial and branches were rebranded or closed.

Farmington Bank was a full-service community bank in Connecticut and western Massachusetts headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Connecticut gubernatorial election</span>

The 2018 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor and lieutenant governor of Connecticut, concurrently with the election of Connecticut's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. This race's Democratic margin of victory was the closest to the national average of 3.1 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simplii Financial</span> Banks of Canada

Simplii Financial is a Canadian direct bank and the digital banking division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). It offers no-fee chequing and savings accounts, a VISA credit card, Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), mortgages and mutual funds. These savings and investment products are also eligible for registration under a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Stefanowski</span> Candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2018 and 2022

Robert Vincent Stefanowski is an American businessman and politician.

The Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) was a juvenile prison in Middletown, Connecticut, that operated under the Connecticut Department of Children and Families from 2001 to 2018. Established in proximity to the Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH), CJTS held male inmates age 12–17 with capacity for 240 inmates. In 2021, Connecticut governor Ned Lamont announced that he was considering reopening the prison to hold immigrant children.

Long Lane School was a prison for juvenile inmates in Middletown, Connecticut. Historically a prison for delinquent girls, it underwent various name changes, was acquired by the state in 1924, and began housing boys in 1972. Prior to its 2003 closure, it was operated by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and was for inmates of the ages 11–16. It was a locked and high-security facility. In its lifetime, Long Lane remained unfenced.

Francisco Lopes Borges is an American politician and business executive who served as Connecticut State Treasurer from 1987 to 1993, succeeding Joan R. Kemler. A member of the Democratic Party, Borges was Connecticut's third Black state treasurer.

References

  1. 1 2 Cooley, Kathy (February 20, 2013). "Liberty Bank Foundation Donates $2,500 To Friendship Service Center Of New Britain". Hartford Courant . Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Liberty Bank. "About Us: History". Accessed: Aug 26, 2010.
  3. Liberty Bank. "About Us". Accessed 3 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 Story, Louise (June 1, 2000). "A Long History to Bank on". Hartford Courant . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  5. "Liberty Bank To Acquire Bank". Hartford Courant . January 23, 2001. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  6. Howard, Lee (January 19, 2013). "Liberty Bank in $11M Merger Deal". The New London Day . Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  7. (Liberty Bank) (2021) Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  8. "Connecticut bank settles race bias in lending lawsuit." ( The Associated Press ) (March 4, 2019) Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  9. "Connecticut bank settles race bias in lending lawsuit." ( The State ) (March 4, 2019) Retrieved March 4, 2019.