List of oldest banks in continuous operation
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2020) |
This list of the oldest banks includes financial institutions in continuous operation, operating with the same legal identity without interruption since their establishment until the present time.
The world's oldest bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the world's oldest merchant bank is Berenberg Bank. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in its present form in 1624, but traces its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472. The Berenberg company was founded in 1590 and has operated continuously ever since with the same family as owners or major co-owners. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is today a large Italian retail bank, while Berenberg Bank is primarily involved in investment banking and private banking for wealthy customers; in any event Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest merchant bank or investment bank. The world's oldest central bank is the Sveriges Riksbank, which was founded in 1668. Banco di Napoli, which was absorbed by different entities between 2002–2018, had origins dating back to 1539, and until its absorption was likely the oldest bank worldwide in continuous operation; some scholars posit that its origins may be dated back to 1463.[1]
Banks established in the 15th and 16th centuries
[edit]| Year | Company | Country (historic) | Country (modern) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1472 | Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena | Siena, Republic of Siena |  Italy
|
The world's oldest bank. Founded as a mount of piety, refounded in its present form in the Republic of Florence in 1624 |
| 1590 | Berenberg Bank | Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire |  Germany
|
The oldest merchant bank |
Banks established in the 17th century
[edit]| Year | Company | Country (historic) | Country (modern) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1668 | Sveriges Riksbank | Kingdom of Sweden |  Sweden
|
The world's oldest central bank. |
| 1672 | C. Hoare & Co. | Kingdom of England |  United Kingdom
|
One of the oldest British banks and the oldest privately owned bank, not a limited company. |
| 1674 | Metzler Bank | Free City of Frankfurt | Germany
|
|
| 1690 | Barclays | Kingdom of England | United Kingdom
|
|
| 1692 | Coutts & Co. | Kingdom of England | United Kingdom
|
Part of NatWest Group. |
| 1694 | Bank of England | Kingdom of England | United Kingdom
|
|
| 1695 | Bank of Scotland | Kingdom of Scotland | United Kingdom
|
Part of Lloyds Banking Group. |
Banks established in the 18th century
[edit]| Year | Company | Country (historic) | Country (modern) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1702 | Monte de Piedad de Madrid | Spain |  Spain
|
Predecessor institution to Bankia (today part of CaixaBank) |
| 1717 | Drummonds Bank | Kingdom of Great Britain | United Kingdom
|
A branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland |
| 1727 | Royal Bank of Scotland | Kingdom of Great Britain | United Kingdom
|
Part of NatWest Group |
| 1737 | Van Lanschot Kempen | Dutch Republic |  Netherlands
|
The oldest independent bank in the Netherlands[2] and the Benelux.[3][4] |
| 1747 | Banque Nagelmackers | Liège |  Belgium
|
|
| 1750 | Rahn+Bodmer | Zürich |  Switzerland
|
|
| 1760 | Banque Courtois | Kingdom of France |  France
|
|
| 1765 | Lloyds Bank | Kingdom of Great Britain | United Kingdom
|
Part of Lloyds Banking Group. |
| 1774 | Fürstlich Castell'sche Bank | Würzburg | Germany
|
|
| 1777 | GRENKE Bank | Baden-Baden, Germany [citation needed] |
Germany
|
Part of GRENKE AG[5] |
| 1780 | Landolt & Cie | Neuchâtel | Switzerland
|
|
| 1782 | Bank of Spain | Spain | Spain
|
|
| 1783 | Bank of Ireland | Kingdom of Ireland |  Ireland (and Northern Ireland)
|
|
| 1784 | The Bank of New York | United States |  United States
|
Oldest US bank tracing to its original incorporation, without resorting to an acquired predecessor[citation needed] |
| 1785 | Trinkaus & Burkhardt | Palatinate | Germany
|
Acquired in 1980s by Midland Bank and then 1992 to British bank HSBC |
| 1786 | Hottinger & Cie | Kingdom of France | United Kingdom
|
Edmond de Rothschild Group acquired a 42.5% stake in Hottinger Group on 31 May 2022 |
| 1792 | State Street Corporation | United States | United States
|
Age dated to predecessor Union Bank |
| 1796 | Hauck & Aufhäuser | Free City of Frankfurt | Germany
|
|
| 1796 | Lombard Odier & Cie | Geneva | Switzerland
|
|
| 1798 | Donner & Reuschel | Hamburg | Germany
|
|
| 1798 | M. M. Warburg & Co. | Hamburg | Germany
|
|
| 1799 | Bank of the Manhattan Company | United States | United States
|
Predecessor institution to JPMorgan Chase |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Storia: Banco di Napoli - Intesa Sanpaolo".
- ^ International Investment UBS to sell its Netherlands wealth management bizhttps://www.internationalinvestment.net/internationalinvestment/news/3503988/ubs-sell-netherlands-wealth-management-biz Archived 8 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 January 2021
- ^ "A Chinese carmaker agrees to buy a Danish investment bank". The Economist. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ The New York Times Belgian Bank Deal 25 April 1990 https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/25/business/company-news-belgian-bank-deal.html Accessed 2 January 2021
- ^ https://www.grenke.de/unternehmen/grenke-deutschland/geschaeftsfelder/bank/
Literature
[edit]- Manfred Pohl; Sabine Freitag (1994), Handbook on the History of European Banks, European Association for Banking History, Cambridge University Press.