Seafirst Bank

Last updated
Seafirst Corporation
Seafirst Bank
Company type
  • Public (1974–1983)
  • Subsidiary (1983–1999)
NYSE: SFC
Industry Banking
FoundedNovember 11, 1929;94 years ago (1929-11-11) in Seattle, Washington (as First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank)
July 1, 1977;46 years ago (1977-07-01) (as Seafirst Corporation)
DefunctSeptember 27, 1999;24 years ago (1999-09-27)
FateMerged into Bank of America
SuccessorBank of America
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Area served
Washington
Parent BankAmerica (1983–1999)
Subsidiaries Seattle-First National Bank
Seattle Georgetown Seafirst logo.jpg
The Bank of Dexter Horton & Co., First South and Washington in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, 1900. As of 2009
the building is still in use as the Maynard Building. Seattle - Dexter Horton & Co. Bankers 2 - 1900.jpg
The Bank of Dexter Horton & Co., First South and Washington in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, 1900. As of 2009 the building is still in use as the Maynard Building.

Seafirst Corporation was an American bank holding company based in Seattle, Washington. Its banking subsidiary, Seafirst Bank, was the largest bank in Washington, with 235 branches and 497 ATMs across the state. [1] [2]

Contents

Formed in 1929 via the merger of Seattle's three largest banks, Seafirst was acquired in 1983 by BankAmerica after posting huge losses from loans it purchased from the failed Penn Square Bank; the Seafirst brand was retired in 1999 after NationsBank acquired BankAmerica the previous year and subsequently implemented the Bank of America brand nationwide.

History

Seafirst Corporation was formed on November 11, 1929, from the merger of Seattle's three largest banks, the First National Bank Group (founded 1882), the Dexter Horton National Bank (founded 1870 by Dexter Horton), and Seattle National Bank (founded 1889), the bank was originally named First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank. In 1931, the bank changed its name to First National Bank of Seattle, and again in 1935 to Seattle-First National Bank. [3]

In 1944, the bank won a case before the US Supreme Court, United States v. Seattle-First Nat. Bank, by arguing that it did not have to pay a transfer tax when it converted from a state to a federally chartered bank. In 1970 it was using the name Firstbank. [4] Seafirst Corporation was formed as a bank holding company for the Seattle-First National Bank on July 1, 1974. [5] [6]

1983 merger

In April 1983, [7] [8] San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corporation announced the pending acquisition of the ailing Seafirst Corporation for $400 million in cash and stock, [9] [10] when Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent following the demise of Oklahoma City-based Penn Square Bank. Seafirst had acquired a significant share of Penn Square's energy loan debt by participating in loans originated by that bank. Penn Square Bank collapsed in 1982, and the FDIC's decision to pay off only insured deposits rendered the participation assets valueless. [11]

The acquisition was completed in July 1983. [12] In September 1983, the bank began to use the Seafirst Bank brand for advertising purposes while still keeping Seattle-First National Bank as the legal name for the bank. [13] For the next quarter-century, Seafirst Bank maintained a high degree of autonomy and reigned as the largest bank in Washington.

On February 10, 1997, $4.4 million was stolen from the Seafirst branch of Lakewood by the Trenchcoat Robbers. [14]

Following the 1998 merger of BankAmerica Corp. and NationsBank Corp. into the modern Bank of America Corporation, Seafirst finally assumed the Bank of America brand on September 27, 1999. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

Washington Mutual, Inc. was an American savings bank holding company based in Seattle. It was the parent company of WaMu Bank, which was the largest savings and loan association in the United States until its collapse in 2008.

PotlatchDeltic Corporation is an American diversified forest products company based in Spokane, Washington.

<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 in San Francisco, California. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves approximately 10.73% 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">U.S. Bancorp</span> American bank holding company

U.S. Bancorp is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution in the United States. The company provides banking, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and other financial institutions. As of 2019, it had 3,106 branches and 4,842 automated teller machines, primarily in the Western and Midwestern United States. In 2023 it ranked 149th on the Fortune 500, and it is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. The company also owns Elavon, a processor of credit card transactions for merchants, and Elan Financial Services, a credit card issuer that issues credit card products on behalf of small credit unions and banks across the U.S.

NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through multiple iterations. Its oldest predecessor companies had been Commercial National Bank (CNB), formed in 1874, and American Trust Company founded in 1909. In 1998, NationsBank acquired BankAmerica, and modified that better-known name to become Bank of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hec Edmundson Pavilion</span> Indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States

Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion is an indoor arena in the northwest United States, on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It serves as home to several of the university's sports teams, known as the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference.

The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was at one time the seventh-largest commercial bank in the United States as measured by deposits, with approximately $40 billion in assets. In 1984, Continental Illinois became the largest ever bank failure in U.S. history, when a run on the bank led to its seizure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Continental Illinois retained this dubious distinction until the failure of Washington Mutual in 2008 during the financial crisis of 2008, which ended up being over seven times larger than the failure of Continental Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KeyBank</span> American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio

KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Key ranked 449th on the 2022 Fortune 500 list based on its 2021 revenue. It is 25th on the list of largest banks in the United States.

Great Western Bank was a large retail bank that operated primarily in the Western United States. Great Western's headquarters were in Chatsworth, California. At one time, Great Western was one of the largest savings and loan in the United States, second only to Home Savings of America. The bank was acquired by Washington Mutual in 1997 for $6.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur A. Denny</span> American politician

Arthur Armstrong Denny was one of the founders of Seattle, Washington, the leader of the pioneer Denny Party, and later the city's wealthiest citizen and a 9-term member of the territorial legislature. Seattle's former Denny Hill was named after him; it was flattened in a series of regrading projects and its former site is now known as the Denny Regrade. The city's Denny Way, however, is named not after Arthur Denny, but after his younger brother David Denny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Interstate Bancorp</span> Defunct American bank holding company

First Interstate Bancorp was a bank holding company based in the United States that was taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it was the nation's eighth largest banking company.

Banner Bank is a Washington-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington, with roots that date back to 1890. The bank provides services in commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural and consumer loans. It also provides community banking services through its branches and loan offices located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safeco Plaza</span> 50-story skyscraper in Downtown Seattle, Washington

Safeco Plaza is a 50-story skyscraper in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. Designed by the Naramore, Bain, Brady, and Johanson (NBBJ) firm, it was completed in 1969 by the Howard S. Wright Construction Company for Seattle First National Bank, which relocated from its previous headquarters at the nearby Dexter Horton Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainier Bancorp</span>

Rainier Bancorporation was the Seattle-based parent corporation of Rainier National Bank, a Washington state bank with branches throughout the state. Rainier traced its roots back to the National Bank of Commerce, which was founded by Richard Holyoke in 1889. The name Rainier National Bank was adopted in 1974. Rainier Bancorp expanded into Alaska with the purchase of Anchorage's People's Bank & Trust in 1983 and into Oregon with the purchase of Gresham's Mount Hood Security Bank in 1986, expanding further in Oregon in 1986 with the government-assisted purchase of Portland's failed Lincoln Savings & Loan Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avista</span> American energy company

Avista Corporation is an American energy company which generates and transmits electricity and distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Approximately 1,550 employees provide electricity, natural gas, and other energy services to 359,000 electric and 320,000 natural gas customers in three western states. The service territory covers 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterling Financial Corporation</span> Former American bank

Sterling Financial Corporation was a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. In 2014, the company was acquired by Umpqua Holdings Corporation.

Simmons Bank is a bank with operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. It is the primary subsidiary of Simmons First National Corporation, a bank holding company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maynard Building</span>

The Maynard Building is a five-story office building in Seattle, Washington. Constructed in 1892 on a Romanesque Revival design by Albert Wickersham, the masonry building was originally known as the Dexter Horton Building and housed Dexter Horton's nascent banking business, which eventually grew into Seafirst Bank. Located at 119 First Avenue South in the city's Pioneer Square neighborhood, the building took its current name in the 1920s in honor of Doc Maynard. The Maynard Building underwent a major refurbishment between 1974 and 1975.

Stephen McLin was a longtime executive in the banking industry who came to the industry from an engineering, rather than a finance background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dexter Horton Building</span> Building in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Dexter Horton Building is a 15-story office building in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Cherry Street in Downtown Seattle and was the headquarters of the Seattle First National Bank (Seafirst) until they moved to the Seafirst Building in 1969. The building was opened in 1924 and designed by John Graham. It underwent seismic renovations in 2002 and was sold to Gerding Edlen in 2013 for $76.6 million. The building was later sold in 2015 to a subsidiary of Great Eagle Holdings for $124.4 million. CIM Group purchased the building for $151 million in 2019; it was the third time the Dexter Horton Building had been sold in a five-year period.

References

  1. Goldfield, Robert (September 26, 1999). "Seafirst brand dies as B of A finally emerges". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  2. Buck, Richard (November 9, 1996). "Seafirst Adds Noncustomer ATM Fee -- Bank Is First In State To Implement Extra Charge For Cash-Machine Use". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  3. "Seattle-First National Bank Family Tree Through December 31, 1969", insert in Shelby Scates, Firstbank: The Story of the Seattle First National Bank (Seattle: North Pacific Bank Note Co., 1970).
  4. Shelby Scates, Firstbank: The Story of the Seattle First National Bank (Seattle: North Pacific Bank Note Co., 1970), passim.
  5. 1974 Annual Report (Report). Seafirst Corporation. 1974. p. 2. This is our first annual report as SEAFIRST CORPORATION, a one-bank holding company approved by the shareholders a year ago. The new corporation came into existence July 1, 1974 at which time the shareholders received two shares of SEAFIRST CORPORATION stock for each share of Bank stock—a total of nine million shares. At this time, the Corporation and the Bank are the same and other subsidiaries mentioned in this report continue to be subsidiaries of the Bank.
  6. Virgin, Bill (September 24, 1999). "Come Monday, Seafirst name is history". Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Retrieved 2009-10-06.[ dead link ]
  7. "Seafirst control may change in capital deal". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 22, 1983. p. 16.
  8. Camden, Jim (April 27, 1983). "Seafirst counts on state OK of merger". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington). p. A6.
  9. Hayes, Thomas C. (April 24, 1983). "2 Big Coast Banks Announce Merger". New York Times .
  10. "Seafirst merger probe asked". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 28, 1983. p. 11.
  11. "Chapter 3: Penn Square Bank, N.A.". Managing the Crisis: The FDIC and RTC Experience 1980–1994 (PDF). Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 1998. pp. 527–542. ISBN   0-9661808-2-8.
  12. "Balloons of many colors, trays of cookies and urns..." United Press International . July 1, 1983.
  13. "Seattle-First National Bank, apparently conceding its name is too..." United Press International . September 26, 1983.
  14. Kotlowitz, Alex (2002-06-30). "The Rise and Fall of the Trenchcoat Robbers". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  15. Nabbefeld, Joe (September 26, 1999). "BofA puts its name on 76-story trophy". Puget Sound Business Journal . North Carolina-based NationsBank Corp. bought BankAmerica Corp. last year to become a 21-state banking giant and said it would operate everywhere under the BofA name, including Seafirst... This summer it scheduled the name change for Sept. 27.

Further reading