Seafirst Bank

Seafirst Corporation
Seafirst Bank
  • Public (1974–1983)
  • Subsidiary (1983–1999)
Traded as NYSE: SFC
Industry Banking
Fate Merged into the new Bank of America Corporation
Successor Bank of America Corporation
Founded November 11, 1929 (1929-11-11) in Seattle, Washington as First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank
July 1, 1977 (1977-07-01) as Seafirst Corporation
Defunct September 27, 1999 (1999-09-27)
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Area served
 Washington
Parent BankAmerica Corporation (1983–1999)
Subsidiaries Seattle-First National Bank
The Bank of Dexter Horton & Co., First South and Washington in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, 1900. As of 2009 the building is still in use as the Maynard Building.

Seafirst Corporation was a bank holding company based in Seattle, Washington. Formed on November 11, 1929, from the merger of Seattle's three largest banks, the First National Bank Group, the Dexter Horton National Bank (founded 1870 by Dexter Horton), and Seattle National Bank, 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.[1] 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;[2] in 1974 the name Seafirst was adopted instead.[3]

Seafirst was acquired by BankAmerica Corp. in 1983, when Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent following the demise of Oklahoma City-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.[4] However, Seafirst maintained the Seafirst Bank name and brand identity. For the next quarter-century, Seafirst Bank maintained a high degree of autonomy and reigned as the largest bank in Washington.

Following the 1998 merger of BankAmerica Corp. and NationsBank Corp. into the modern Bank of America Corporation, Seafirst finally assumed the Bank of America brand on September 27, 1999.[5]

History

Seafirst Corporation was formed as a bank holding company for the Seattle-First National Bank on July 1, 1974.[6]

In April 1983, San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corporation announced the pending acquisition of the ailing Seafirst Corporation for $400 million in cash and stock.[7] The acquisition was completed in July 1983.[8]

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.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Seattle-First National Bank Family Tree Through December 31, 1969", insert in Shelby Scates, Firstbank: The Story of the Seattle First National Bank (Seattle: North Pacific Bank Note Co., 1970).
  2. ↑ Shelby Scates, Firstbank: The Story of the Seattle First National Bank (Seattle: North Pacific Bank Note Co., 1970), passim.
  3. ↑ Virgin, Bill (September 24, 1999). "Come Monday, Seafirst name is history". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  4. ↑ "Chapter 3: Penn Square Bank, N.A.". Managing the Crisis: The FDIC and RTC Experience 1980–1994 (PDF). Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 1998. pp. 527–542. ISBN 0-9661808-2-8.
  5. ↑ Nabbefeld, Joe (September 26, 1999). "BofA puts its name on 76-story trophy". Puget Sound Business Journal. North Carolina-based NationsBank Corp. bought BankAmerica Corp. last year to become a 21-state banking giant and said it would operate everywhere under the BofA name, including Seafirst... This summer it scheduled the name change for Sept. 27.
  6. ↑ 1974 Annual Report (Report). Seafirst Corporation. 1974. p. 2. This is our first annual report as SEAFIRST CORPORATION, a one-bank holding company approved by the shareholders a year ago. The new corporation came into existence July 1, 1974 at which time the shareholders received two shares of SEAFIRST CORPORATION stock for each share of Bank stock—a total of nine million shares. At this time, the Corporation and the Bank are the same and other subsidiaries mentioned in this report continue to be subsidiaries of the Bank.
  7. ↑ Hayes, Thomas C. (April 24, 1983). "2 Big Coast Banks Announce Merger". New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Balloons of many colors, trays of cookies and urns..." United Press International. July 1, 1983.
  9. ↑ "Seattle-First National Bank, apparently conceding its name is too..." United Press International. September 26, 1983.

Further reading

  • The Bankoscope: Staff Publication of the Seattle-First National Bank. Special Anniversary Issue, June 1960, Volume XVIII. Seattle: Seattle-First National Bank, 1960.
  • "Archived Seafirst Corporation Annual Reports (1937–1995)" – via University of Washington Libraries. (high resolution binaries; large file sizes)
  • "Seattle First National Bank Inc. History". FundingUniverse.
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