British Linen Bank
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The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the Bank's merchant bank arms from 1977 until 1999.
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[edit] History
[edit] Foundation
The Bank traces its routes to the creation of the British Linen Company which was formed in 1746 by a Royal Charter from King George II. Although a Scottish organisation, the prefix "British" was used instead of Scottish due to the suspicion aroused by all things Scottish after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. The initial aim of the Company was to promote the linen industry, although it later moved into banking and issued its first notes in 1765. In 1837, the Company acquired the Paisley Banking Company.
Originally based in Edinburgh, the Company began to expand throughout Scotland, opening 9 branches outwith the capital. In 1906 it formally changed its name to the British Linen Bank.
[edit] Mergers
In the post World War I period, a wave of consolidation in the UK banking market so many of the smaller Scottish banks acquired by larger rivals from England. In 1919, the British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays Bank based in London, although it retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes.
In 1969, the Bank of Scotland agreed a deal with Barclays to acquire the British Linen Bank, with Barclays taking a 35% stake in the enlarged Bank.
[edit] Merchant Bank
The merger with the Bank of Scotland was finalised with the Bank of Scotland Order Confirmation Act 1970, confirming the transfer of the assets and liabilities of the British Linen Bank to the Bank of Scotland. The Act allowed British Linen Bank to continue as a separate company, and in 1977 the Bank resumed as the merchant bank arm of the Bank of Scotland.
However in 1999, the Bank of Scotland decided to stop using the British Linen Bank name, renaming its merchant bank activities as Bank of Scotland Treasury Services, later HBOS Treasury Services following the Bank's merger with Halifax plc to form HBOS.
[edit] British Linen Advisors
In 2000, the British Linen Advisors was formed by the acquisition of the corporate finance operations from the Bank of Scotland by an independent group of businessmen.
