Republic New York Corporation was the holding company for Republic National Bank of New York, Safra Republic Holdings, and Safra Republic Bank. The company was controlled by

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

Edmond Safra Edmond J. Safra ( ar, ادموند يعقوب صفرا; 6 August 1932 – 3 December 1999) was a Lebanese-Brazilian banker who continued the family tradition of banking in Brazil and Switzerland. He was married to Lily Watkins from 1976 until ...

, who was killed in a fire in his Monte Carlo

penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and s ...

by his nurse Ted Maher. Republic New York Corporation was sold shortly after its chairman's death to HSBC Bank USA, the US subsidiary of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

of the UK.

Joseph Safra Joseph Safra ( ar, يوسف صفرا‎; 1 September 1938 – 10 December 2020) was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and billionaire businessman, who ran the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group. Joseph Safra was the ch ...

, the brother of Edmond Safra, controlled and owned independently the

Safra Group The J. Safra Group is an international network of companies controlled by the Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions and industrial operations. It is present in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, A ...

of banks and financial institutions.

History

1966: Republic National Bank of New York is founded by Edmond Safra. Safra had previously opened the Trade Development Bank in Geneva, Switzerland, which acquired a 36% stake in Republic. 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 Franklin National Bank, based in Franklin Square on Long Island, New York was once the United States' 20th largest bank. On October 8, 1974, it collapsed in obscure circumstances, involving Michele Sindona, renowned Mafia-banker and member ...

. 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:

acquires Republic New York for US$9.8-billion. 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. Their partner at the time Martin Armstrong was convicted and spent 11 years in prison. 2015:

purchased

Chiquita Brands International Chiquita Brands International Sàrl (), formerly known as Chiquita Brands International Inc. and United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under a number of s ...

Safra Republic Holdings

Thousand year bonds

Safra Republic Holdings issued $250 million of 1,000 year bonds in 1997, at a time when there were "a number of 100-year bond issues by corporations." Safra's banking interests catered to clients looking for tax havens in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Monaco.

Republic National Bank of New York

Republic National Bank of New York operated without the "Of New York" part of its full name, even though the name "Republic National Bank of" had at times been used elsewhere. 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. 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. 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 The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had s ...

. In 1999, Safra sold Safra Republic Holdings and Republic New York Corporation to

for $10.3 billion in cash. On 31 December 1999,

HSBC Private Bank HSBC Global Private Banking is part of the Wealth and Personal Banking division within the HSBC Group (as of 2020, HSBC was the world's sixth largest bank by total assets and market capitalization) They provide award winning private banking ser ...

became the new name for Safra's former holdings. When Republic was taken over by HSBC Bank USA, which already had acquired the former

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its na ...

, the combination retained what Republic had previously achieved: "the third-biggest retail branch network in the New York region." Two competitive parts of their operation were "low-cost checking and free automated teller machine services."Republic already had introduced No-charge ATM

References

{{HSBC Group Defunct banks of the United States HSBC acquisitions Banks established in 1966 1966 establishments in New York City Banks disestablished in 1999 1999 disestablishments in New York (state) 1999 mergers and acquisitions