Bank of British Columbia

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Bank of British Columbia
Company typePrivate
Industry
Banking, Financial services
Founded1862 - 1901 (first bank) (merged with Canadian Bank of Commerce); 1966 - 1986 (second bank) (rescued and merged into Hongkong Bank of Canada)
Headquarters
British Columbia
,
Canada

There have been two British Columbian/Canadian banks with the name Bank of British Columbia.

The first bank: 1862–1901

The first was established by

merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce.[4] At the time of the merger it had branches in Vancouver (est. 1886), Victoria, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Nelson, New Westminster, Rossland, Sandon
, San Francisco, Portland, and London.

Banknotes

There remains $48,797 in outstanding banknotes from the bank of British Columbia, in $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 denominations. The bills were issued from 1863 to 1894 and in the 1970s they brought anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per bill on the collector's market.[5]

Architecture

The Bank of British Columbia in

Vancouver, British Columbia, was built in 1889 to 1891 and was added to Vancouver's Community Heritage Register in 1986.[7]

The second bank: 1966–1986

The second bank was chartered in 1966 with headquarters in Vancouver and was the creation of

W.A.C. Bennett, the Premier of British Columbia. Bennett, a businessman, wanted to end Central Canada's control over the banking industry which obliged all but the smaller loans for companies in British Columbia to receive authorization from head offices in either Montreal or Toronto
.

In 1986, the bank had 1,410 employees, 41 branches in BC and Alberta, and offices in the Cayman Islands, the US, and Hong Kong. Assets in 1986 were CAD$2.7 billion, which put the bank 27th among banks and financial institutions in Canada. Revenue in 1986 was $324 million.

Following financial difficulties arising from the decline of the western oil economy, the collapses of

Canadian government permitted the Hongkong Bank of Canada (HSBC) to rescue it.[8]
By stepping in, HSBC acquired a large base of stable retail deposits. The acquisition immediately raised HSBC's ranking amongst Canadian banks from the 20th to the 9th largest.

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "Bank of British Columbia". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  2. ISBN 978-0-7715-5694-4
    . p. 174–.
  3. ^ British Columbia. Department of Agriculture. Province of British Columbia, Canada: Its Climate and Resources; with Information for Emigrants .... R. Wolfenden, Government Printer; 1883. p. 108–109.
  4. ISBN 978-0-19-820602-6
    . p. 404–.
  5. ^ Barlee (1976)
  6. ^ Bank of British Columbia (Victoria). Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  7. ^ Bank of British Columbia (Vancouver). Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  8. ^ Patricia Chisholm, End of a dream for Bank of B.C. Financial Times of Canada, December 1, 1986, pp. 8, 59.

References

  • [1] 1986 Bank of British Columbia Business Continuation Act. From the Department of Justice
  • Barlee, Neville Langrell (1976) Historic Treasures and lost mines of British Columbia. (Canada West Publications).
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