Coutts

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For other uses, see Coutts (disambiguation).

Coutts

Type	Private
Founded	1692
Headquarters	London, UK
Key people	Earl of Home, Chairman Sarah Deaves, CEO
Industry	Private banking and wealth management
Products	Wealth management - accounts, lending, savings
Parent	Royal Bank of Scotland
Website	www.coutts.com

Coutts is one of the UK's leading private banks, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS acquired Coutts and all of its overseas subsidiaries when it bought NatWest. Coutts offers a range of private banking services including investment management and advisory services.

1 History
2 Locations
- 2.1 Offices in London
- 2.2 Offices outside London
3 Management
4 Becoming a Client
5 Customers
6 References in culture
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

A Coutts office as it may have appeared three hundred years ago. - This mock up is part of the archives of Coutts found in their head office at 440 Strand

The bank which was to become Coutts & Co, was originally known as Campbells Bank. It was formed in 1692 by a young Scot, John Campbell of Lundie, Scotland. He was a goldsmith-banker. He set up the business in the Strand, London, under a sign of the Three Crowns. Today, the Coutts logo still comprises the three crowns, and to this day has its headquarters in the Strand.

In 1708 he took a partner, George Middleton, who outlived Campbell and married Campbell's daughter. In due course, other partners were brought in and when Middleton died they named the business "Bankers of 59 Strand".

John Campbell, the founder of what was to become Coutts & Co, died in 1712, leaving the business to be run and owned by members of his family. The dominant force was Campbell's son in law, George Middleton. During the years of Middleton's stewardship, the bank was going downhill, buffeted by one crisis after another. The Jacobite revolution of 1715 threatened the Stability of the banking system, John Law, the Comptroller of France's finances, owed a great deal of money to the bank when the Mississippi Company bubble burst in 1720 and the English stock market collapsed in the same year. Stability for the bank did not return until 1735. John's son, George Campbell was also a partner, and ultimately became the sole partner after the death of Middleton in 1747.

Mary Peagram, the granddaughter of John Campbell, married James Coutts in 1755.

In 1755, James Coutts became a partner on his marriage to the founder's granddaughter. In 1760 James' brother, Thomas, joined him and the following year, the bank was renamed "James & Thomas Coutts". The bank flourished during the later part of the 18th century, with customers from the monarch downwards. On Thomas' death in 1822 was renamed "Coutts & Co."

In 1755 John Campbell's grand-daughter, Mary (known as "Polly"), married a merchant, James Coutts. Polly was the niece of George Campbell and George immediately made James a partner. The bank was renamed Campbell & Coutts. James ran the business. Following the death of Polly in 1760 and of George in the same year, James became the sole partner. George bequeathed most of his fortune, and the bank to James. In 1761 James took his brother Thomas Coutts in to the business, which was now named James and Thomas Coutts.

James and Thomas did not always get on and eventually James drifted into politics, leaving the running of the bank to Thomas. James retired from the bank in 1775 due to ill health. The bank in the Strand became known as Thomas Coutts & Co.

Thomas Coutts married twice. His choice of wives, beneath his station, raised some controversy. His first wife, a servant named Susannah Starkie, gave him three beautiful daughters nicknamed "The Three Graces" who eventually married leading figures in British society: the Earl of Guildford, the Marquis of Bute and Sir Francis Burdett. Thomas also had four sons who died in their infancy. When Susannah died, he married his second wife just four days after the funeral. Thomas Coutts was 80 years old, and his new wife, the actress Harriot Mellon, was 40 years younger, which stirred considerable comment.

One of his daughters, Sophie Coutts, who was married to Sir Francis Burdett, had two daughters, Angela Burdett and Clara Burdett. First Angela, then Clara were to inherit the Coutts fortune.

Three Graces, the daughters of Thomas Coutts

Thomas Coutts died in 1822. His widow, Harriot inherited £900,000 from Thomas along with the bank. Although she did not get on with her step-daughters, she wanted to keep the bank in the Coutts family. Harriot died in 1837. In her Will, the Coutts fortune was passed on to Thomas's grand-daughter, Angela Burdett, (the daughter of Sophie Coutts and Sir Francis Burdett). The will contained three conditions. Firstly the bank was to be held in Trust, secondly that the heir should take the name of Coutts, and thirdly that the heir may never marry a foreigner. Accordingly, Angela became Angela Burdett-Coutts.

By 1837 Angela Burdett-Coutts had become the wealthiest woman in Britain. Angela had no children and gave away more than £3 million of her income to worthy causes such as the Ragged Schools Union and the Temperance Society.

However, at the age of 67, Angela, broke the terms of the Will by marrying a foreigner. She married her young American secretary, William Ashmead-Bartlett. Angela's sister, Clara, claimed the fortune, and a bitter dispute followed. The result was that the Coutts fortune passed to Clara and her heirs. However, Angela kept two fifths of the income until her death in 1906. In accordance with the Will, Clara Burdett adopted the name Coutts. Clara, who had married James Money in 1850 thus became Clara Burdett Money-Coutts. Her son Frances thus became Francis Burdett Money-Coutts.

The following appeared in "Punch" at the time:-

Money takes the name of Coutts,

Superfluous and fimny,

For everyone considers Coutts,

Synonymous with Money.

[Vere Carpenter]

His full name was Francis Burdett Money Coutts-Nevill, 5th Baron Latymer (1852–1923). He was better known as just Francis Coutts, he was a writer and poet. He became the 5th Baron Latymer in 1913 when its 336-year abeyance was terminated to him by King George V.

The Baring crisis of 1890 forced the bank to change from being a Limited Company to a partnership. This was done because in those days, (and particularly at the time of the Barings crisis), limited liability was seen as risky by depositors. They wanted the partners to be personally liable for any and all the debts and deposits. As a partnership, the Coutts family (as partners), would have been personally liable to any depositor for his bank deposit in a crisis. Fortunately there was never any crisis, and all depositors were fully protected.

In 1904 the bank moved to its current premises at 440 Strand. In 1914 Coutts took over the bank of Roberts, Lubbock & Co, obtaining a branch office and a clearing house seat in the process.

In 1919 Coutts merged with the National Provincial & Union Bank of England Ltd whilst retaining its name. In 1961 the first branch outside London was opened in Eton. In 1969 Coutts became part of the National Westminster bank. In 1987 a Swiss company was formed. In 2000 Coutts became part of The Royal Bank of Scotland.

It has its headquarters at 440 Strand, London, with branches throughout the UK and the rest of the world. It is a private bank, which means its clients are expected to have substantial income or liquid assets in excess of £500,000. The bank is most famously known in the UK as the banker of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A Coutts Automated Teller Machine is installed in the basement of Buckingham Palace for use by the Royal Family.

The Great-Grandson of Francis Burdett Coutts, David Burdett Money-Coutts (now Sir David Money-Coutts), became chairman in 1976, retiring in 1993, leaving behind his cousin Crispin Money-Coutts (heir apparent to the title Baron Latymer), as the last remaining Coutts name until 1999 when Crispin resigned.

In 2000 National Westminster Bank plc was purchased by Royal Bank of Scotland in one of the largest corporate transactions ever in the European Banking Sector. Today Coutts is part of the Wealth Management division of RBS.

Coutts & Co - Headquarters of Coutts in the Strand, - by Night

[edit] Locations

Coutts private bank operate have offices throughout the World. Coutts are split into three separate entities:

Coutts, who look after the 22 offices in the UK as well as the office in Monaco.
Coutts Bank von Ernst (CBVE), who look after the 6 offices in Switzerland alongside offices in Spain, Singapore,Hong Kong, Japan and Uruguay.
Coutts Offshore, who operate out of three offices; Jersey, Isle of Man and Cayman.

Coutts has offices in London and throughout the UK

[edit] Offices in London

Cadogan Place, Canary Wharf, Cavendish Square, Crosby Court, Fleet Street and the head office in the Strand.

[edit] Offices outside London

Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Eton, Guildford, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oxford, Winchester and Tunbridge Wells.

The Earl of Home, Chairman of the Coutts Group

[edit] Management

Chairman of Coutts Group: The Earl of Home (David Douglas-Home)
Chief Executive of Wealth Management (Coutts is part of RBS Group Wealth Management): John Baines.
Chief Executive of Coutts: Sarah Deaves
Chief Executive of Coutts Bank von Ernst Limited, Switzerland: Hanspeter Brunner.

[edit] Becoming a Client

As a discreet organisation, Coutts is not overt about the conditions that must be met in order to open an account. They are, however, as follows:

In order to become a Coutts client, you must have either

a) Investable assets of £500,000

and/or

b) Net assets (including your house, jewellery, artwork, etc.) totalling £5,000,000.

Additionally, Coutts currently run a 'Fast Track' scheme to identify and recruit the customers of the future. The Bank will take on a customer if they are under 40, earn over £100,000 per year, and have the potential to meet the criteria above in 3-5 years. An individual expecting to be made a Partner in a 'Big Four' accountancy firm, for example, would meet this profile.

[edit] Customers

Coutts is known as the "Queen's Bank" to many by virtue of it being reputed to be the bankers to the British Royal Family. Within the UK it is the largest Private Bank and is said to only accept financially independent customers with more than £500,000 to deposit. However press articles in October 2005 reported Coutts as saying that you would need at least £3 million to be considered financially independent. Being a millionaire will get you in as a customer, but perhaps it won't guarantee you financial independence. Historically Coutts was an upper crust clearing bank to the landed gentry, but today they are seen as wealth managers willing to accept a wider class of clientele, including top sportsmen, lottery winners, football stars, businessmen, chief executives, and pop singers.

As well as being the Queen's banker, Coutts is also known as a bank for the rich and famous of British society. Sir Richard Branson is a notable customer to have banked with Coutts since the early days of his business enterprises. Former Spice Girl, and wife to famous footballer David Beckham, Victoria Beckham is a client, and caries a Coutts & Co World card, similar to the American Express black card, that she uses when shopping all over the world. English singer Elton John is another famous client.