Seafirst Corporation was an American

bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') or bancorporation is often used to refer to such companies as w ...

based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Its

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

ing subsidiary, Seafirst Bank, was the largest bank in Washington, with 235

branches A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includi ...

and 497 ATMs across the state. Formed in 1929 via the merger of Seattle's three largest banks, Seafirst was acquired in 1983 by

BankAmerica The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Ca ...

after posting huge losses from loans it purchased from the failed Penn Square Bank; the Seafirst brand was retired in 1999 after

NationsBank 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 mul ...

acquired BankAmerica the previous year and subsequently implemented the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

brand nationwide.

History

Seafirst Corporation was formed on November 11, 1929, from the merger of

'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. 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. Seafirst Corporation was formed as a bank holding company for the Seattle-First National Bank on July 1, 1974.

1983 merger

In April 1983, San Francisco–based BankAmerica Corporation announced the pending acquisition of the ailing Seafirst Corporation for $400 million in cash and stock, when Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming

insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet in ...

following the demise of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

–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. The acquisition was completed in July 1983. 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. 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. Following the 1998 merger of BankAmerica Corp. and NationsBank Corp. into the modern Bank of America Corporation, Seafirst finally assumed the

brand on September 27, 1999.

References

External links

* (high resolution binaries; large file sizes) * {{Bank of America Bank of America legacy banks Defunct companies based in Seattle Defunct banks of the United States Banks established in 1929 Banks disestablished in 1999 1929 establishments in Washington (state)

History

1983 merger

See also

References

Further reading

External links