Republic National Bank
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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 Jewish Lebanese
billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
Edmond Safra Edmond Jacob Safra (; 6 August 1932 – 3 December 1999) was a Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker and philanthropist of Syrian descent. He continued his family tradition of banking in Brazil and Switzerland, and was married to Lily Watkins ...
(1932-1999), who was killed in a fire in his
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit traditionally 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 re ...
, by his American nurse Ted Maher. Republic New York Corporation was sold shortly after its chairman's death to
HSBC Bank USA HSBC Bank USA, National Association, an American subsidiary of the British banking group HSBC, is a bank with its operational head office in New York City and its nominal head office in Tysons, Virginia (as designated on its charter). HSBC Bank ...
, the US subsidiary of
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
of the UK.
Joseph Safra Joseph Safra (‎; 1 September 1938 – 10 December 2020) was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and billionaire businessman of Syrian descent. He was Brazil's richest man and the richest banker in the world, running the Brazilian bankin ...
, the brother of Edmond Safra, controlled and owned independently the
Safra Group The J. Safra Group is a conglomerate comprising an international network of companies controlled by the Vicky Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions and industrial operations. It is present in the United States, Europe, th ...
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 Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...
, 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 was a bank based in Franklin Square on Long Island, New York. It was once the United States' 20th largest bank. On October 8, 1974, it collapsed in obscure circumstances involving Michele Sindona, who was a renowned Mafia ...
. 1977: Opens Republic Factors Corporation. 1978: Opens Republic International Bank of New York in
Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. 1980: Republic is listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. Opens Republic International Bank of New York in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. 1983: Edmond Safra sells Trade Development Bank to
American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
. Several years later,
American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
tries to smear Safra, after he attempts to open a competing business. 1987: Acquires the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. 1988: Edmond Safra organizes Safra Holdings S.A. in
Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...
, 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 HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
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:
Safra Group The J. Safra Group is a conglomerate comprising an international network of companies controlled by the Vicky Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions and industrial operations. It is present in the United States, Europe, th ...
purchased
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2021: HSBC, which acquired Republic Bank in 1999, intends to exit the retail banking business. Former Republic Bank branches have been sold to
Citizens Financial Group Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company owns the bank Citizens Bank, N.A., which operates in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massach ...
.


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 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. 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 (), Menatep (), Inkom (), and United Bank (), 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 Russian rouble, ruble and sovereign default, defau ...
. In 1999, Safra sold Safra Republic Holdings and Republic New York Corporation to
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
for $10.3 billion in cash. The price was reduced to $9.85 billion, after the bank was convicted in a scheme to defraud Japanese investors, and fined over $600 million dollars, in connection with the disgraced market forecaster Martin A. Armstrong. On 31 December 1999,
HSBC Private Bank HSBC Private Bank is the principal private banking business of the HSBC Group. HSBC Private Bank's holding company is HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) S.A.. The holding company is wholly owned by British HSBC Bank plc and its subsidiaries ...
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 (state), New York, Pennsylvania and two branches located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washing ...
, 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 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange