Republic New York

1966: Republic National Bank of New York is founded by Edmond Safra.[3] Safra had previously opened the Trade Development Bank in Geneva, Switzerland, which acquired a 36% stake in Republic.[4]

1973: Republic New York Corporation was established as a one-bank holding company for Republic National Bank.

1974: Acquires Kings Lafayette Bank, which has 18 branches.

1975: Acquires American Swiss Credit Company, Ltd., formerly part of Franklin National Bank.

1977: Opens Republic Factors Corporation.

1978: Opens Republic International Bank of New York in Miami, Florida.

1980: Republic is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Opens Republic International Bank of New York in Los Angeles, California.

1983: Edmond Safra sells Trade Development Bank to American Express. Several years later, American Express tries to smear Safra, after he attempts to open a competing business.

1987: Acquires The Williamsburg Savings Bank.

1988: Edmond Safra organizes Safra Holdings S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland, which is 49% owned by Republic.

1990: Acquires Manhattan Savings Bank.

1992: Establishes Republic New York Securities Corporation.

1993: Acquires SafraCorp California and renames it Republic Bank California N.A. Acquires Bank Leumi of Canada. Acquires Mase Westpac Limited, which is a member of the London Gold Fixing. Acquires Citibank's World Banknote Services operations.

1995: Acquires Crossland Federal Savings Bank.

1999: HSBC acquires Republic New York for US$9.8-billion.[5][6]

2001: Republic pleads guilty to fraud and agrees to restitution of $606 million in connection with cheating Japanese customers by its Republic New York Securities Corporation subsidiary.[7]</ref> Their partner at the time Martin Armstrong was convicted and spent 11 years in prison.

2015: Safra Group purchased Chiquita Brands International[8]

452 Fifth Avenue, formerly Republic National Bank of New York's Fifth Avenue Headquarters

Republic National Bank of New York[11] operated without the "Of New York" part of its full name,[4] even though the name "Republic National Bank of" had at times been used elsewhere.[12][13][14]

From 1980 until Safra's death, Walter Weiner was Safra's attorney and CEO of Republic National Bank of New York and, in 1983, Wiener became chairman of the bank.[10]

In 1981, Republic National Bank of New York sought a tax abatement to construct its Fifth Avenue headquarters. The bank was the first midtown project to be turned down since the city's brush with bankruptcy in the mid-1970's. Kenneth Schuman, chairman of the city's Industrial and Commercial Incentive Board, said that the market had become strong enough so that construction would take place without the tax abatement.[15]

In 1998, Safra's Republic National Bank of New York was the preferred foreign bank through which most Russian banks had correspondent accounts. Both Russian banks, including SBS-Agro (Russian: СБС-Агро), Menatep (Russian: Менатеп), Inkom (Russian: Инком), and United Bank (Russian: Объединенный банк), and the Russian Ministry of Finance transferred IMF loan money to foreign locations through Safra's Republic National Bank of New York.[16][17]

On 17 August 1998, the Republic National Bank of New York lost 45% of its net income due to its large holding of Russian bonds that became worthless after the 1998 Russian financial crisis.[10]

In 1999, Safra sold Safra Republic Holdings and Republic New York Corporation to HSBC for $10.3 billion in cash.[18][19] On 31 December 1999, HSBC Private Bank became the new name for Safra's former holdings.[20]

When Republic was taken over by HSBC Bank USA, which already had acquired the former Marine Midland Bank, the combination retained what Republic had previously achieved:[5] "the third-biggest retail branch network in the New York region."[21] Two competitive parts of their operation were "low-cost checking and free automated teller machine services."[22]