01.The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc , Edinburgh , UK

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc , Edinburgh , UK


The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc
is a majority part-nationalised banking and insurance holding company in which HM Treasury holds a near 58% shareholding. The group is based in Edinburgh, UK.

It includes The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc founded in 1727 by a Royal Charter of King George I, National Westminster Bank Plc in Great Britain and Ulster Bank Limited in Ireland.

RBS Group is the largest banking group in Scotland, and at its peak was the second largest in the UK and Europe (fifth in stock market value), and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. According to Forbes Global 2000, it was the tenth largest company in the world. Its shares have a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. The registered head office of the group and the UK clearing bank are located at St Andrew Square. In 2005, Queen Elizabeth II opened the bank's new head office building in Gogarburn, Edinburgh.
The RBS Group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance throughout its operations located in Europe, North America and Asia. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, the main subsidiary companies are: The Royal Bank of Scotland; National Westminster Bank; Ulster Bank; Drummonds and Coutts & Co. In the United States, it owns Citizens Financial Group, the 8th largest bank in the country. It is the second largest shareholder in the Bank of China, the world's fifth largest bank by market capitalization in February 2008.
On 13 October 2008, it was announced that the British Government may take a stake of up to 58% in the Group, a move aimed at recapitalising the bank. The aim is to "make available new tier 1 capital to UK banks and building societies to strengthen their resources permitting them to restructure their finances, while maintaining their support for the real economy, through the recapitalisation scheme which has been made available to eligible institutions".

History
Takeover Bids
During the late 1970s and early 1980s the Royal Bank was the subject of three separate takeover approaches. In 1979, Lloyds Bank, which had previously built up a 16.4% stake in the Royal Bank, made a takeover approach for the remaining shares it did not own. The offer was rejected by the board of management on the basis it was detrimental to the bank's operations. However when the Standard Chartered Bank, proposed a merger with the Royal Bank in 1980, the board of management responded favourably to the offer. Standard Chartered Bank was headquartered in London, although most of its operations were in the Far East, and the Royal Bank saw advantages in creating a truly international banking group. Approval was received from the Bank of England, and the two banks agreed a merger plan that would see the Standard Chartered acquire the Royal Bank and keep the UK operationbased in Edinburgh.The Bank did obtain an international partnership with Banco Santander Central Hispano of Spain, each bank taking a 5% stake in the other. However this arrangement ended in 2005, when Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired UK bank, Abbey National – and both banks sold their respective shareholdings.

International Expansion
The first international office of the bank was opened in New York in 1960. Subsequent international banks were opened in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Hong Kong. In 1988 the bank acquired Citizens Financial Group, a bank based in Rhode Island, United States. Since then, Citizens has acquired several other American banks, and in 2004 acquired Charter One Bank to become the 8th largest bank in the United States.
The Royal Bank also opened offices in Europe and now has subsidiaries in: Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina In the Asia-Pacific region, the bank has offices in: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

2008 financial crisis

After previous denials following press coverage,[12] on the 22 April 2008 RBS announced a rights issue which aimed to raise £12billion in new capital to offset a writedown of £5.9billion resulting from the bad investments and to shore up its reserves following the purchase of ABN-Amro. This is the largest rights issue in British corporate history.The bank also plans to divest some of its subsidiaries to raise further funds, notably its insurance divisions Direct Line and Churchill.

Despite this fundraising and amid the worsening of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, on the 13 October 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a UK Government bailout of the financial system.

The Treasury would infuse £37 billion ($64 billion, €47 billion) of new capital into Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds TSB and HBOS Plc, to avert financial sector collapse. He stressed, however, that it was not "standard public ownership" and that the banks would return to private investors "at the right time."Alistair Darling stated UK taxpayers would benefit from the government's rescue plan, as it will have some control over RBS in exchange for £5 billion in preference shares and underwriting the issuance of a further £15 billion in ordinary shares. If shareholder take-up of the share issue was 0% then total government ownership in RBS would be 58% and if shareholder take-up was 100% then total government ownership in RBS would be 0%. In the event, less than 56 million new shares were taken up by investors, or 0.24pc of the total offered by RBS in October 2008.

Recent developments

In late October 2008 it was reported that the insurance company Swiss Re and venture-capital firm CVC Capital Partners were to purchase the insurance division for a reported £6 billion which would reduce some of the funds needed from the Treasury.

02.Deutsche Bank AG , Frankfurt am Main , Germany

Deutsche Bank AG , Frankfurt am Main , Germany
Deutsche Bank AG (literally "German Bank"; pronounced [ˈdɔɪtʃə]; ISIN: DE0005140008, NYSE: DB) is an international Universal bank with a broad private clients franchise, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The bank employs more than 81,000 people in 76 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets.

Deutsche Bank has offices in finance-hubs, including London, Moscow, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Furthermore, the bank is investing in expanding markets such as the Middle East, Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific.

The bank offers financial products and services for corporate and institutional clients along with private and business clients. Services include sales, trading and origination of debt and equity, mergers and acquisitions ((M&A), risk management products such as derivatives, corporate finance, wealth management, retail banking, fund management and transaction banking.

Deutsche Bank’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Group Executive Committee, since 2002, is Josef Ackermann. The Bank, in terms of its revenues, is one of the top three investment banks in the world.[citation needed] Deutsche Bank is listed on both the Frankfurt (FWB) and New York stock exchanges (NYSE).


History
Deutsche Bank was founded in Germany in January 1870 as a specialist bank for foreign trade in Berlin. Its first branches, inaugurated in 1871 and 1872 were opened in Bremen, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Dresden.
The Bank’s first foray overseas came shortly afterwards, in Shanghai (1872) and London (1873). Already, at this early stage, the bank was looking further afield, making investments in North and South America, Asia and Turkey.
The bank merged with other local banks in 1929 to create Deutsche Bank und DiscontoGesellschaft, at that point the biggest ever merger in German banking history. In 1937, the company name changed back to Deutsche Bank.n 1957, these three banks merged to form Deutsche Bank AG with its headquarters in Frankfurt. Two years later, the bank entered retail banking by introducing small personal loans. In the 1970s, the bank pushed ahead with international expansion, opening new offices in new locations such as Moscow, London, Paris and Tokyo. In the 1980s, this continued with the acquisition of Banca d’America e d’Italia, the first time the bank had acquired a sizeable branch location in another European country.In 1989, the first steps towards creating a significant investment banking presence were taken with the acquisition of Morgan Grenfell, a UK-based investment bankIn 2001, Deutsche Bank was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The following year, Deutsche Bank strengthened its U.S. presence when it purchased Scudder Investments. Meanwhile, in Europe, Deutsche Bank increased its private banking business by acquiring Rued Blass & Cie (2002) and Russian investment bank United Financial Group (2006). In Germany, further acquisitions of Noris Bank and Berliner Bank strengthened Deutsche Bank’s retail offering in its home market.During the financial crisis of 2007/2008 Deutsche Bank has so far written off about €7 billion which is far less than most of the world's major banks.


Performance
Deutsche Bank has been transformed over the past five years, moving from a German-centric organisation that was renowned for its retail and commercial presence to a global investment bank that is less reliant on its traditional markets for its profitability.
For 2007, Deutsche Bank reported a profit of €6.5 billion, a 7% increase on 2006. The bank was less affected than some of its competitors by the subprime crisis that hit the financial markets in the summer of 2007. Deutsche Bank’s CEO, Josef Ackermann, was one of the first prominent figures from the financial community to call for greater transparency among major institutions.

Business Structure
Deutsche Bank’s mission statement is: “We compete to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for our shareholders and people.” The bank’s business model rests on two pillars: the Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB) and Private Clients & Asset Management.

Acquisitions

* Morgan, Grenfell & Company, 1990.
* Bankers Trust (Successfully Closed) 30 November 1998.
* Scudder Investments, 2001
* Berkshire Mortgage Finance October 22, 2004.
* Chapel Funding, now DB Home Lending September 12 2006.
* MortgageIT Holdings January 3, 2007.

03.BNP Paribas SA , Paris , France

BNP Paribas SA , Paris , France


BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP, TYO: 8665) is one of the main banks in Europe. It was created on 23 May 2000 through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas. Together with Société Générale and Crédit Lyonnais (now known as LCL), it is one of the "three old" banks of France. It is a constituent of the CAC 40 index.

On 9 August 2007, BNP Paribas announced that it could not fairly value the underlying assets in three funds as a result of exposure to U.S. subprime mortgage lending markets.Faced with potentially massive (though unquantifiable) exposure, the European Central Bank (ECB) immediately stepped in to ease market worries by opening lines of €96.8 billion (then US$130 billion) in low-interest credit.The long term debt of the group is currently ranked AA+ by S&P, Aa1 by Moody's and AA by Fitch.

History
In 1869, a group of bankers and investors including Adrien Delahante, Edmond Joubert and Henri Cernuschi founded the Banque de Paris, with its headquarters near the Opera at 3 rue d'Antin, Paris. Jonathan-Raphaël Bisschoffsheim and his brother founded the Nederlandsche Credit en Deposito Bank (NCDB) or Banque de Crédit et de Dépôt des Pays-Bas.

After the end of World War II, the French State decided to "put banks and credit to work for national reconstruction". René Pleven, then Minister of Finance, launched a massive reorganization of the banking industry. A law passed on 2 December 1945 redefined the regulatory framework governing the industry and decreed the nationalization of the Banque de France and the four leading French retail banks: BNCI, CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais and Société Générale. It went into effect on 1 January 1946.

Shares in these companies were transferred to the French State, which assumed complete ownership of the financial institutions. The boards of directors were dissolved and twelve new directors were appointed at each bank. BNCI and CNEP were merged in 1966 to form BNP.

BNP was privatised in 1993.

Originally the Compagnie Financière de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Finance Corporation of Paris and the Netherlands), the Compagnie Financière de Paribas became simply Paribas in 1998 after acquiring the Compagnie Bancaire. Claude de Kemoularia was an important executive in the bank in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1999, BNP and Société Générale fought a complex battle on the stock market, with Société Générale bidding for Paribas and BNP bidding for Société Générale and counter-bidding for Paribas. BNP's bid for Société Générale failed, while its bid for Paribas succeeded leading to a merger of BNP and Paribas one year later on 22 May 2000.

On 6 October 2008, BNP took over 75% of troubled bank Fortis' activities in Belgium, and 66% in Luxembourg, in exchange for the Belgian government becoming the new group's major shareholder. The sales of the Fortis shares was suspended by a court order from the Court of Appeal on Friday the 12th of December.

On 14 December 2008, BNP announced it could lose €350 million as a victim of the Madoff fraud.

Profile
BNP Paribas is the largest bank in the Eurozone by total assets and second largest by market capitalization according to The Banker magazine. It employs 162,700 people, of which 80,000 work in Europe, and maintains a presence in 87 countries. The bank is active in the finance, investment and asset management markets.

In France, BNP Paribas is active in retail banking with 2,200 branches and over 3,200 ATM machines. In Paris alone the Bank has 187 agencies. [9]BNP Paribas serves over 6 million French households and 60,000 corporate customers.

In the United States, BNP Paribas owns Bank of the West. It also has investment banking capabilities via its BancWest subsidiary. In particular, it is strong in equity derivatives, structured products and project finance. In addition, BNP Paribas maintains a strong middle market merchant banking group. This group focuses on providing leveraged acquisition finance to private equity sponsored leveraged buyouts, both through senior secured syndicated loans, high yield bond offerings, equity co-investment, and mezzanine financing.

On 11 June 2008, BNP Paribas formally signed the final terms of an agreement to purchase the Prime Brokerage Services division of Banc of America Securities. The sale is widely believed to be completed by the end of the 3rd Quarter, 2008.

Politics and public service
* Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou - considered by royalists as the head of the French Royal House.
* Jacques de Larosière - managing director of the International Monetary Fund (1978-87); Governor of the Banque de France (1987-93)
* Lorenz of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria-Este

04.Barclays PLC , London , UK

Barclays PLC , London , UK

Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is a holding company that is listed in London, New York and Tokyo. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC.

Barclays PLC is ranked as the 25th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 (2008 list) and the fourth largest financial services provider in the world according to Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion). It is the second largest bank in the United Kingdom based on asset size.

The bank's headquarters are at One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, in London's Docklands, having moved there in May 2005 from Lombard Street in the City of London. The company also operates Barclays Bank of Delaware, which issues Juniper credit cards, one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the United States.

History

Early years
This bank traces its roots back to 1690 in London. The name "Barclays" became associated with the business in 1736, when James Barclay, son-in-law of one of the founders, became a partner in the business. In 1728, the bank moved to 54 Lombard Street, which was identified by the 'Sign of the Black Spread Eagle', over the years becoming a core part of the bank's identity.

In 1898 several banks in London and the English provinces, notably Backhouse's Bank of Darlington and Gurney's Bank of Norwich, united under the banner of Barclays and Co., a joint-stock bank. Between 1905 and 1916 Barclays extended its branch network by making acquisitions of small English banks.

Further expansion followed in 1918 when Barclays amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank and in 1919 when the British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays Bank, although the British Linen Bank retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes. Then in 1924 the planned takeover of National Bank of Kingston reached near-completion but was halted three days before finalisation.

Post War
In 1965 Barclays established a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California in San Francisco.
Barclaycard, the first credit card in the UK, was launched in 1966 and in 1967 Barclays unveiled the first ATM cash machine at Enfield, north London.
In 1969 the planned merger with Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank was blocked by the Mergers and Monopolies Commission but the acquisition of Martins Bank on its own was allowed. Also that year the British Linen Bank subsidiary was sold to the Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake, a transac0tion that became effective from March 1971.

The new millennium
The year 2000 saw the acquisition of Woolwich plc (formerly the Woolwich Building Society). Then in 2001 Barclays closed 171 branches in the UK, many of them in rural communities: Barclays called itself "THE BIG BANK" but this name was quickly given a low profile after a series of embarrassing PR stunts.

In 2003 Barclays bought the American credit card company Juniper Bank from CIBC, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware".The same year saw the acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, the 11th Spanish bank

Planned merger with ABN AMRO
In March 2007 Barclays announced plans to merge with ABN AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands.However, on 5 October 2007 Barclays announced that it had abandoned its bid, citing inadequate support by ABN shareholders. Fewer than 80% of shares had been tendered to Barclay's cash-and-shares offer.This left the consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland free to proceed with its $99.9 billion counter-bid for ABN AMRO.

To help finance its bid for ABN AMRO, Barclays sold a 3.1% stake to China Development Bank and a 3% stake to Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singaporean government.

Also in 2007 Barclays agreed to purchase Equifirst Corporation from Regions Financial Corporation for $225 million.That year also saw Barclays Personal Investment Management announcing the closure of their operation in Peterborough and its re-siting to Glasgow, laying off nearly 900 members of staff.
Recent developments

Reuters later reported that Britain would inject £40 billion ($69 billion) into three banks including Barclays, which might seek over 7 billion.[35] But Barclays later confirmed that it rejected the Government’s offer and would instead raise £6.5 billion of new capital (£2 billion by cancellation of dividend and £4.5 billion from private investors).

Recent developments
Reuters later reported that Britain would inject £40 billion ($69 billion) into three banks including Barclays, which might seek over 7 billion.[35] But Barclays later confirmed that it rejected the Government’s offer and would instead raise £6.5 billion of new capital (£2 billion by cancellation of dividend and £4.5 billion from private investors)

05.Credit Agricole SA , Paris , France

Credit Agricole SA , Paris , France




Crédit Agricole SA (CASA) (Euronext: ACA) is the largest retail banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world by Tier capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index.
It is the main sponsor of a professional road cycling team.

Structure of the group

Crédit Agricole SA is a semi co-operative bank, being majority owned by 41 French Caisses Régionales de Crédit Agricole Mutuel. Its subsidiaries are:

* Calyon, the investment banking division of Crédit Agricole.
* Calyon Financial, global futures and options brokerage serving institutional investors.
* CLSA, the Asian securities brokerage division.
* Predica and Pacifica, the insurance divisions
* LCL (Previously Crédit Lyonnais), the nationwide retail banking network, acquired in 2003.

History
France's "green bank" was nicknamed for its roots in agriculture. Crédit Agricole, composed of the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole and 90 regional banks, which together own 90% of the Caisse Nationale, is a unique cooperative organization and one of the most important banking groups in France.

In the mid-1800s, it became clear that there was a need for agricultural credit in France, especially after a crop failure in 1856, which left rural areas in dire straits.By 1866, though some steps towards improvement had been suggested, the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War prevented their implementation. The society folded in 1876.


In 1894, the Chamber of Deputies proposed a law to organize personal or short-term rural credit, based on the methods of the small credit societies already in existence. The law formalized the requirements for the societies' formation, made them exempt from taxes, and gave them a monopoly on state-subsidized loans to farmers. In 1897, the Bank of France made funds available to the banks through the minister of agriculture, and in 1899, a law was passed to create regional banks to act as intermediaries between the local societies and the minister of agriculture.

In 1910, a law established long-term personal credit for the purchase of land to encourage young men to farm. Only small holdings could acquire these loans, which could not exceed $1,600, and only young farmers were eligible; their characters were the basis for their credit.

In 1920, a law was passed to organize the office National du Crédit Agricole, a national society run by civil servants and the elected representatives of the regional banks but controlled by the government--the minister of agriculture would name its director. Office National du Crédit Agricole also became responsible for the distribution of treasury loan funds and for rediscounting the short-term loans of local and regional societies. In 1926, the name was changed to Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole (CNCA).


In 1966, the state decided to allow Crédit Agricole to widen its operations to become more flexible than a bank strictly for farmers. Under the new reform, Crédit Agricole was allowed to make loans to individuals and organizations not specifically connected with agriculture. It was also allowed to create subsidiaries.

In 1967, the government announced that all resources collected by Crédit Agricole's regional and local banks, previously deposited in the French Treasury, would now be deposited with the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole.

In 1971, the Union d'Etudes et d'Investissements, with an eye on important developments in the food processing business, created another subsidiary, L'Union pour le Developpement Régional, which was mainly to provide loans to agricultural and food processing industries.

In 1977, when the U.S. dollar was low, Crédit Agricole ranked briefly as the biggest bank in the world. In 1978, Crédit Agricole's profit of FFr400 million was more than the other three main French banks combined.

Crédit Agricole continued to push forward with international expansion. In 1979, it opened its first international branch, in Chicago; London soon followed, and a New York City branch opened in 1984. By then, Crédit Agricole was also extremely active in funding development in rural areas for roads, telephones, and airports, and the government was encouraging the bank to help out small industry.

By 1981. Crédit Agricole had several strong subsidiaries: Segespar, which headed the investment-and-deposit service group; Voyage Conseil, a French travel agency; Eurocard France, a payment-card company; Soravie, an insurance company for sales in local branches; Unimat (now Ucabail) and Unicomi, which financed equipment and industrial and commercial building; Unicredit, which provided loans for businesses; and Union d'Etudes et d'Investissements, now heavily involved with rural development.

In January, 1981, Crédit Agricole's charter was changed again to allow the bank to provide loans to companies with fewer than 100 employees, whether or not they were connected with agriculture. The government also eased its credit limits for farmers and stockbreeders, and Crédit Agricole was no longer limited to lending in towns with fewer than 12,000 inhabitants.

In May, 1981, the Socialists won the national election. Soon all major French banks that weren't already nationalized became state controlled, and over the next few years, the government imposed a domestic policy of economic austerity in an attempt to reduce inflation, renew industry, and balance its foreign trade account.

In 1985, Crédit Agricole established a subsidiary called Predica to enter the life insurance market. Capitalizing on Crédit Agricole's extensive branch network, Predica had become the second-largest life insurer in France by 1988.

Finally, in 1987, the government began to take steps towards freeing CNCA from state control. On February 1, 1988, the state sold 90% of CNCA's common stock to its regional banks and the company was incorporated with FFr4.5 billion in capital stock. Most of the rest of its stock went to employees, and the government holds a small stake.

In 1989 Crédit Agricole ceased to have a monopoly on the shrinking number of subsidized loans to farmers. In losing this monopoly, Crédit Agricole lost an important, captive customer group. The bank should be able to compensate for this loss, however, with the new business it expects to pick up as a result of the lifting of restrictions on its business. When Crédit Agricole lost its monopoly on subsidized farm loans, it was also freed of the unusual government restrictions on its business. Now Crédit Agricole operates in much the same way as any other French bank, and it expects its business to improve rather than suffer as a result of this status.

06.UBS AG , Zurich , Switzerland

UBS AG , Zurich , Switzerland

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) is a diversified global financial services company, with its main headquarters in Basel & Zürich, Switzerland. It is the world's largest manager of private wealth assets, "the world's biggest manager of other people's money"is also the second-largest bank in Europe, by both market capitalisation and profitability. UBS has a major presence in the U.S., with its American headquarters located in New York City's Manhattan borough (Investment Banking); Weehawken, New Jersey (Private Wealth); and Stamford, Connecticut (Capital Markets). UBS's retail offices are located throughout the United States, and in over 50 other countries. UBS is an abbreviation, which originated from a predecessor firm, the Union Bank of Switzerland, however UBS ceased to be considered a representational abbreviation after its 1998 merger with Swiss Bank Corporation.

UBS's global business groups are Private Banking, Investment Banking, and Asset Management. Additionally, UBS is one of the leading providers of retail banking and commercial banking services in Switzerland. Overall invested assets are 3.265 trillion Swiss francs (CHF), shareholders' equity is 47.850 billion CHF and market capitalization is 151.203 billion CHF by end of 2007.

The AG in the company's name means Aktiengesellschaft, which is the equivalent to a shareholder-based corporation in the USA.

In some ways, UBS has evolved on a similar path to its cross-town rival Credit Suisse. Both are Swiss commercial and retail banks which bought major US investment banks (and in the case of UBS, a leading retail stock broker, PaineWebber), and both are currently investigated by US authorities for helping US citizens to evade taxes.

In 2007, after incurring huge losses, UBS was forced to turn to the Government of Singapore for fresh funding. Since then, the largest shareholder of UBS is Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

In November 2008, following further dramatic losses, UBS managers pledged to return bonuses. UBS shareholders voted to accept financial aid from the Swiss government, to restore the shaken trust into UBS.

History

UBS has its roots as a Swiss Bank, originating in 1747, when its first branch was established in the Swiss region of Val Poschiavo. However, the three core components of the company date back to the second half of the nineteenth century. Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation, and Paine Webber or their antecedents, were all founded in the 1860s and 1870s.

Modern UBS was formed through a merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation in June 1998. Although the merged company's new name was originally supposed to be the "United Bank of Switzerland," officials opted to call it simply "UBS" because of a name clash with United Bank Switzerland - a part of the United Bank Limited's Swiss subsidiary.

SBC had previously built a global investment banking business through its acquisitions of Dillon Read in New York and S.G. Warburg in London. The first chairman of the merged bank had to step down in October 1998 due to the Long-Term Capital Management crisis, which affected the Union Bank of Switzerland. In 2000, UBS acquired PaineWebber Group Inc. to become the world's largest wealth management firm for private clients. Invested assets in all wealth management businesses, including the U.S., total CHF 3.265 trillion.

On June 9th, 2003, all UBS business groups rebranded under the UBS name as the company began operating as one large firm. UBS Paine Webber, UBS Warburg, UBS Asset Management, and others became simply "UBS". As a result of the rebranding, UBS took a $1B writedown for the loss of goodwill associated with the retirement of the Paine Webber brand. UBS is no longer an acronym but is the company's brand, like 3M. Its logo of three keys, carried over from SBC, stands for confidence, security, and discretion.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide, with offices in 50 countries. According to the UBS website, the bank had 81,557 employees on June 30, 2007. The 2007 Q2 report breaks these Financial Business permanent staff down by region as: 27,315 in Switzerland, 31,933 in the Americas, 13,355 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA / not including Switzerland), and 8,954 in Asia and Australasia (APAC).

07.Societe Generale , Paris La Defense , France

Societe Generale , Paris La Defense , France



La Défense is a major business district for the city of Paris, bordering Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of the city itself. It is centered in an oval freeway loop straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux. The district is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10 km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe before culminating at La Défense.

Around its 100-metre (330 ft)-high Grande Arche and esplanade ("le Parvis"), the district holds many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. With its 77.5 acres (314,000 m2), its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 150 metres (490 ft), its 150,000 daily workers and 3.5 million square metres (37.7 million sq ft) of office space, La Défense is Europe's largest business district.

History
La Défense is named after the statue, La Défense de Paris, which was built in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The name of the area sometimes causes confusion with visitors, who occasionally assume it is some kind of military zone or establishment.

In September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense (EPAD)tis st buildings (of which the Esso Tower was the very first) were built and began to slowly replace the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Center of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was built and first used in 1958. These "first generation" skyscrapers were all very similar in appearance, limited to a height of 100 metres (330 ft). In 1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office building built in the area.

In the early 1970s, in response to great demand, a second generation of buildings began to appear, but the economic crisis in 1973 nearly halted all construction in the area. A third generation of towers began to appear in the early 1980s. The biggest commercial center in Europe (at the time), the Quatre Temps, was created in 1981. In 1982, the EPAD launched the Tête Défense competition to find a monument to complete the Axe historique, which eventually led to the construction of Grande Arche at the west end of the quarter. During the same period, hotels were constructed, the CNIT was restructured, and in 1992 Line 1 of the Paris Métro was extended to La Défense, which made the area readily accessible to even more of the city.

On Bastille Day 1990, French electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre staged an ambitious concert at the site, using the Grande Arche and three of the area's towers as projection screens, and building a pyramidal stage above the road. The free concert, titled simply
bove the road. The free concert, titled simply Paris la Defense attracted two million spectators, stretching all the way back to the Arc de Triomphe. This beat Jarre's own previous world record for the largest attendance for a musical concert.

08.ABN AMRO Holding NV , Amsterdam , Netherlands

ABN AMRO Holding NV , Amsterdam , Netherlands

ABN AMRO is a Dutch bank, currently owned by RFS Holdings B.V., a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the Government of the Netherlands, and Banco Santander. The bank was created as the result of the 1990-91 merger between Amsterdam-Rotterdam (AMRO) Bank and ABN, whose history dated back to the founding of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij in 1824.

Between 1991 and 2007, ABN AMRO was one of the largest banks in Europe and had operations in about 63 countries around the world.

In the biggest banking takeover in history, a consortium comprising RBS, Fortis, and Banco Santander acquired ABN AMRO in 2007.

Due to the 2008 financial crisis, the Dutch government nationalised the divisions owned by Fortis, while the UK government is now in effective control over the divisions allocated to RBS due to its financial bail-out of the Scottish bank. The process of integrating some of ABN AMRO's divisions into the new owners, and divesting others, continues.



History
On 29 March 1824 King Willem-I issued a royal decree creating the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij with the aim of reviving trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. In 1964, NHM merged with De Twentsche Bank to form Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN), while Amsterdamsche Bank and Rotterdamsche Bank joined to become Amsterdam-Rotterdam (Amro) Bank. In 1991, these two banks merged as ABN AMRO Bank. Today, ABN AMRO Bank has a powerful presence in world markets, building on a tradition of stimulating international trade.

2007 acquisition of ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO had come to a crossroads in the beginning of 2007. The bank had still not come close to its own target of having an ROE that would put it among the top 5 of its peer group, a target that the CEO, Rijkman Groenink had set upon his appointment in 2000. From 2000 until 2006, ABN AMRO's stock price stagnated.

Financial results in 2006 added to concerns about the bank's future. Operating expenses increased at a greater rate than operating revenue, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated further to 69.9%. Non-performing loans increased considerably year on year by 192%. Net profits were only boosted by sustained asset sales.

There had been some calls, over the prior couple of years, for ABN AMRO to break up, to merge, or to be acquired. On February 21, 2007, the call came from the TCI hedge fund which asked the Chairman of the Supervisory Board to actively investigate a merger, acquisition or breakup of ABN AMRO, stating that the current stock price didn't reflect the true value of the underlying assets. TCI asked the chairman to put their request on the agenda of the annual shareholders' meeting of April 2007.

Events accelerated when on March 20 the British bank, Barclays and ABN AMRO both confirmed they were in exclusive talks about a possible merger. On March 28, ABN AMRO published the agenda for the shareholders' meeting of 2007. It included all items requested by TCI, but with the recommendation not to follow the request for a breakup of the company.

However, on April 13, another British bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) contacted ABN AMRO to propose a deal in which a consortium of banks, including RBS, Belgium's Fortis, and Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (now Banco Santander) would jointly bid for ABN AMRO and thereafter break up the different divisions of the company between them. According to the proposed deal, RBS would take over ABN's Chicago operations, LaSalle, and ABN's wholesale operations; while Banco Santander would take the Brazilian operations and Fortis, the Dutch operations.

On April 23 ABN AMRO and Barclays announced the proposed acquisition of ABN AMRO by Barclays. The deal was valued at €67 billion. Part of the deal was the sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America for €21 billion.

Two days later the RBS-led consortium brought out their indicative offer, worth €72 billion, if ABN AMRO would abandon its sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. During the shareholders' meeting the next day, a majority of about 68% of the shareholders voted in favour of the breakup as requested by TCI.

On July 23 Barclays raised its offer for ABN AMRO to €67.5bn, after securing investments from the governments of China and Singapore, but it was still short of the RBS consortium's offer. Barclay's revised bid was worth €35.73 a share — 4.3% more than its previous offer. The offer, which included 37% cash, remained below the €38.40-a-share offer made the week before by the RFS consortium. Their revised offer didn't include an offer for La Salle bank, since ABN AMRO could proceed with the sale of that subsidiary to Bank of America. RBS would now settle for ABN's investment-banking division and its Asian Network.

On July 30 ABN AMRO withdrew its support for Barclays’ offer which was lower than the offer from the group led by RBS. While the Barclays offer matched ABN AMRO’s “strategic vision,” the board couldn’t recommend it from “a financial point of view.” The US$98.3bn bid from RBS, Fortis and Banco Santander was 9.8% higher than Barclays’ offer.

Barclays Bank withdrew its bid for ABN AMRO on 5 October, clearing the way for the RBS-led consortium's bid to go through, along with its planned dismemberment of ABN AMRO. Fortis would get ABN AMRO's Dutch and Belgian operations, Banco Santander would get Banco Real in Brazil, and Banca Antonveneta in Italy and RBS would get ABN AMRO's wholesale division and all other operations, including those in Asia.

On October 9, the RFS consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, bidding for control of ABN AMRO, formally declared victory after shareholders, representing 86 percent of the Dutch bank’s shares, accepted the RFS group’s €70bn offer. This level of acceptance cleared the way for the consortium to take formal control. The group declared its offer unconditional on October 10, when Fortis completed its €13bn rights issue. Thus the financing required for the group’s €38-a-share offer, which included €35.60 in cash, was realised. Rijkman Groenink, Chairman of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO, who heavily backed the Barclays offer, decided that he would step down.

Impact of the 2008 Financial crisis on the acquisition

After previous denials following press coverage[13], on the 22 April 2008 RBS announced the largest rights issue in British corporate history[14], which aimed to raise £12billion in new capital to offset a writedown of £5.9billion resulting from the bad investments and to shore up its reserves following the purchase of ABN AMRO. RBS also planned to divest some of its subsidiaries to raise further funds, notably its insurance divisions Direct Line and Churchill.

Despite this fundraising and amid the worsening of the 2008 global financial crisis, on the 13th October 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a UK Government bailout of the financial system.

The Treasury would infuse £37 billion ($64 billion, €47 billion) of new capital into Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds TSB and HBOS Plc, to avert financial sector collapse. He stressed, however, that it was not "standard public ownership" and that the banks would return to private investors "at the right time."Alistair Darling stated UK taxpayers would benefit from the government's rescue plan, as the government will have some control over RBS in exchange for £5 billion in preference shares and underwriting the issuance of a further £15 billion in ordinary shares. If shareholder take-up of the share issue was 0% then total government ownership in RBS would be 58% and if shareholder take-up was 100% then total government ownership in RBS would be 0%.

As a consequence of this rescue the chief executive of the group Sir Fred Goodwin offered his resignation, which was duly accepted.

On July 11, 2008, the CEO of Fortis, Jean Votron, stepped down after the ABN AMRO deal had depleted Fortis' capital.[9][10] The total worth of Fortis, as reflected by its stock value, was at that time a third of what it had been before the acquisition, and just under the value it had paid merely for the Benelux activities of ABN AMRO.

Fortis announced in September 2008 that it intended to sell its stake in RFS Holdings, which includes all activities that have not been transferred yet to Fortis (i.e. everything except Asset Management).

09.ING Bank NV , Amsterdam , Netherlands

ING Bank NV , Amsterdam , Netherlands

ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING, Euronext: INGA) (known as ING Group) is a financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management services. ING stands for Internationale Nederlanden Groep.

As of 2007[update], ING Group covers 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in 50 countries with a workforce of over 130,000 people. It has offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, UK and United States. It owns ING Direct, a virtual bank with operations in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, UK, USA and elsewhere. In the 2008 Forbes Global 2000, ING was the ninth-largest company in the world.

History
Part of ING at night in Minneapolis in the United States

* 1990: The newly formed company was created from the 1990 merger of
Nationale-Nederlanden and NMB Postbank Group.
* 1991: Nationale-Nederlanden changes to ING Nationale-Nederlanden
* 1994: ING opened first ING Bank in Romania
* 1995: ING acquired investment bank and investment management firm Barings
* 1997: ING acquired insurer Equitable of Iowa Companies
* 1997: ING opened ING Direct Canada www.ingdirect.ca
* 1998: ING acquired Banque Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) of Belgium
* 1999: ING acquired BHF-Bank of Germany

* 2000: ING acquired US insurers ReliaStar, Aetna Financial Services and Aetna international

* 2000: ING opened ING Direct USA
* 2001: ING acquired Bank Śląski of Poland, and insurer Seguros Comercial America of Mexico
* 2002: ING acquired DiBa bank of Germany
* 2004: ING Insurance Company of Canada acquired Allianz Canada
* 2004: ING sold BHF-Bank of Germany to Sal. Oppenheim

* 2006: ING opened ING Life Bulgaria, a branch of ING Life Hungary
ING began sponsoring the Renault Formula One team in 2007, and also has a large amount of trackside advertising and race sponsorship deals.

* 2007: ING acquired Oyak bank of Turkey
* 2007: ING launched its first variable annuities product for the European market in Spain
* 2007: ING acquired US web-based stock brokerage firm ShareBuilder
* 2007: ING acquired Landmark Asset Management Company of South Korea
* 2007: ING acquired TMB bank of Thailand
* 2008: ING sold ING Seguros in Mexico
* 2008: ING acquired CitiStreet in USA
* 2008: ING launched retail banking in Ukraine
* 2008: ING acquired the voluntary pension fund Oyak Emeklilik in Turkey
* 2008: ING Group, in a move to increase its Tier-One capital ratio, accepts a €10 billion capital injection from the Dutch government.

Investigations into investment and business practices

Over the past several years, the ING Group has come under scrutiny over the ethics of some of their business practices. In October 2005, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory services in the United States, ordered ING Funds Distributor (IFD) to pay fines of $1.5 million for permitting improper market timing in ING funds and related violations, $1.4 million in restitution to affected mutual funds, and a $25,000 fine and 30-day supervisory suspension on an IFD supervisor.

2008 Capital Injection

On Sunday October 19, 2008, in a move to increase its core Tier 1 capital ratio to 8%, ING Group accepted a capital injection plan by the Dutch Government. The plan will supply €10 billion (US$13.5 billion) into the operation, in exchange for securities, and veto rights on major operations and investments. Wouter Bos, the Dutch finance minister, said that this was done as a means of fortifying the bank as the bank is in a sound financial state, to weather the financial crisis. Management said that the capital injection shall have no dilutive impact to existing shareholders. Because of the temporary basis of the loan, two advisers have been appointed. A portion of the €10 billion was allocated to ING Direct, who took over responsibility for £2.5 billion of deposits of 160,000 UK customers with the Icelandic bank Kaupthing Edge, which failed on October 9, 2008.

10 .The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi


Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (株式会社三菱東京UFJ銀行, Kabushiki-gaisha Mitsubishi Tōkyō UFJ Ginkō?), or BTMU, is a Japanese bank that was established on January 1, 2006, with the merger of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Limited. The bank serves as the core retail and commercial banking unit of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest financial services company measured by assets.

The bank's head office is in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. (株式会社東京三菱銀行, Kabushiki-gaisha Tōkyō Mitsubishi Ginkō?) or BTM, was a Japanese bank. It was a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and one of the Mitsubishi companies.

The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. (株式会社三菱銀行; Kabushiki-gaisha Mitsubishi Ginkō) was a Japanese bank, and was a core member of Mitsubishi Group companies. The bank was established on August 25, 1919.

The Bank of Tokyo, Ltd.(株式会社東京銀行; Kabushiki Gaisha Tōkyō Ginkō) was a Japanese foreign exchange bank.

The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. merged with Bank of Tokyo Limited , forming The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd..

On January 1, 2006, the bank was merged with UFJ Bank Limited to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd..

UFJ Bank Limited

UFJ Bank Limited (株式会社UFJ銀行, Kabushiki-gaisha UFJ Ginkō?) was a Japanese bank originally established by the merger of The Sanwa Bank, Ltd.(株式会社三和銀行; Kabushiki-gaisha Sanwa Ginkō) (based in Osaka) and The Tokai Bank, Ltd(株式会社東海銀行; Kabushiki-gaisha Tōkai Ginkō) (based in Nagoya) in 2002.

With the merger of its then parent company, UFJ Holdings, Inc., and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group on October 1, 2005, it became a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest bank measured by assets.

On January 1, 2008, the bank was combined with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd., another unit of MUFG, to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.

History

2004

The Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group agreed to merge with UFJ Holdings

2005

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group merged with UFJ Holdings, creating the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

2006

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi merged with UFJ Bank Limited, forming The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (Note: The UFJ was formed from a merger with Toyo Trust and Banking).