MUFG Union Bank

UnionBank

Industry	Banking
Founded	1864;161 years ago (1864) (as The Bank of California) 1996;29 years ago (1996) (as Union Bank of California) 2008;17 years ago (2008) (as UnionBank)
Founder	Kaspare Cohn
Defunct	December 1, 2022;2 years ago (2022-12-01)
Fate	Acquired by U.S. Bancorp
Headquarters	1251 Avenue of the Americas New York City, U.S.
Key people	Kevin Cronin (CEO) Masatoshi Komoriya (executive chairman) Greg Seibly (president and Head of Regional Banking)

The company's logo

The former Union Bank logo used from 1996 prior to the 2008 rebranding

Former Union Bank logo from December 2008 to November 2017

A branch in Los Angeles

Union Bank was an American national bank with 398 branches in California, Washington, and Oregon. It was owned by MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and was acquired by U.S. Bancorp in December 2022. It was headquartered in New York City and had commercial branches in Dallas, Houston, New York City, and Chicago, and two international offices.

History

Union Bank

In 1914, Kaspare Cohn founded Kaspare Cohn Commercial & Savings Bank in Los Angeles. It was renamed Union Bank & Trust Company of Los Angeles in 1918. Harry Volk was recruited from Prudential Insurance Company as the bank's new CEO in 1957 and pioneered the use of the one-bank holding company, ^[1] among other banking innovations. ^[2] Volk retired in 1980 after the purchase of the bank by London-based Standard Chartered Bank in 1979.

MUFG Bank, Ltd.

In May 1996, Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo merged. ^[3]

In August 2008, Mitsubishi UFJ offered to buy the 35% of Union Bank it did not already own, which Union Bank accepted. ^{[4] [5]}

On November 4, 2008, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), announced that BTMU had successfully acquired all of the outstanding shares of UnionBanCal Corporation. ^[6]

In 2014, MUFG integrated the U.S. operations of its subsidiary The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) with those of San Francisco–based Union Bank, N.A. ^[7]

In April 2018, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) was renamed to MUFG Bank, Ltd. ^[8]

When it was called MUFG UnionBank, it was a subsidiary of intermediate holding company, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, and a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. ^[9]

In December 2022, the bank was acquired by U.S. Bancorp for $8 billion. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]}

Acquisitions

Date	Acquired	Source
1864	Bank of California
1883	First National Bank
1905	The London and San Francisco Bank
1918	The Bank of Personal Service
1952	The Bank of Tokyo of California
1957	Occidental Savings & Commercial Bank (North Hollywood)	[16]
1958	Union Bank
1967	Southern California First National Bank
1972	Mitsubishi Bank of California
1975	California First Bank
1984	Bancal Tri-State Corporation – bank holding company for The Bank of California
2002	First Western Bank	[17]
2004	Business Bank of California	[18]
2010	Frontier Bank	[19]
2010	Tamalpais Bank	[20]
2012	Pacific Capital Bancorp – bank holding company for Santa Barbara Bank & Trust	[21]
2013	First Bank Association Bank Services	[22]

Controversies

On October 19, 2004, the Federal Reserve Board announced that Union Bank had entered into a written agreement to avoid criminal prosecution for money laundering. ^[23] Three years later, Union Bank was again accused of money-laundering and in September 2007, the bank agreed to pay $31.6 million in penalties and forfeitures to settle government claims that it had been implicated in an elaborate drug money laundering scheme involving Mexican exchange houses known as casas de cambio. ^[24]

References

1. "Harry J. Volk, Business Executive". Rutgers University Alumni Association.
2. Deutsch, Claudia (18 May 2000). "Harry J. Volk, 94, a Bank Executive Known for Innovations" . New York Times .
3. "Banking merger to cost 850 jobs". SFGATE . September 28, 1995.
4. Nakamoto, Michiyo (August 12, 2008). "MUFG to buy out UnionBanCal for $3bn". Financial Times .
5. Dolan, David; Nishitani, Yumiko (August 17, 2008). "MUFG sweetens UnionBanCal bid to $3.5 billion". Reuters .
6. Sorkin, Andrew Ross; de la Merced, Michael J. (August 19, 2008). "Japanese Bank Buys Rest of UnionBanCal" . The New York Times .
7. "Notice regarding the Americas business integration of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.and change of the legal names of consolidated subsidiaries" (PDF). February 28, 2014.
8. "Our History". MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation . 2 December 2020.
9. "MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INTEGRATES OPERATIONS IN AMERICAS, UNITING UNDER ONE COMMERCIAL BANK AND BANK HOLDING COMPANY" (Press release). Business Wire. 28 April 2021.
10. "MUFG completes sale of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. to U.S. Bancorp" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 1, 2022.
11. Ramstad, Evan (September 22, 2021). "As U.S. Bank joins merger wave, it vows to keep front-line employees in $8B purchase of MUFG Union". Star Tribune.
12. "U.S. Bancorp Receives U.S. Regulatory Approval for Acquisition of MUFG Union Bank". Business Wire. October 16, 2022.
13. Ennis, Dan (14 October 2022). "Regulators approve U.S. Bank-MUFG Union merger". Banking Dive. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
14. "Regulators Approve U.S. Bank's $8B Purchase of Union Bank". US News. Associated Press. October 14, 2022.
15. Kumar, Kavita (December 1, 2022). "U.S. Bancorp completes $8 billion acquisition of West Coast's MUFG Union Bank". Star Tribune .
16. "Discuss Merger". Valley Times. October 3, 1957.
17. "Union Bank of California to acquire First Western Bank". American City Business Journals . December 19, 2001.
18. "UnionBanCal to Buy Business Bank" . Los Angeles Times . September 27, 2003.
19. "Former Mastro property in Redmond sells for $3.5 million". American City Business Journals . May 3, 2013.
20. Halstead, Richard (April 16, 2010). "Regulators take over Tamalpais Bank, sell assets to Union Bank". Marin Independent Journal .
21. "UNIONBANCAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION OF PACIFIC CAPITAL BANCORP" (Press release). December 1, 2012.
22. "Union Bank Completes Acquisition of First Bank Association Bank Services" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 25, 2013.
23. "FRB: Press Release—Written agreement with Union Bank of California International—October 19, 2004" (Press release).
24. Vardi, Nathan (17 September 2007). "UnionBanCal's Drug Money Problem". Forbes .