Swiss Bank Corporation

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For banks in Switzerland, see Swiss bank

Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) (German: Schweizerischer Bankverein (SBV), French: Société de Banque Suisse (SBS), Italian:Società di Banca Svizzera) is the name of a bank that existed between 1856 and 1998, when it merged with Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS/SBG) to form UBS AG.

The history of the Swiss Bank Corporation ("SBC") dates to 1856 and the constitution of an underwriting consortium, or "Bankverein," by six private banks in Basel--Bischoff zu St Alban, Ehinger & Cie., J. Merian-Forcart, Passavant & Cie., J. Riggenbach and von Speyr & Cie., who formed an underwriting consortium in Basel, Switzerland. The company was formally organized as Basler Bankverein in 1871. It later joined forces with Zürcher Bankverein in 1895 to become Basler & Zürcher Bankverein. The next year, Basler Depositenbank and Schwizerische Unionbank were acquired.

Following these acquisitions in 1896, the company changed its name to Schweizerischer Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation). The company grew through a series of mergers including Basler Handelsbank in 1945, O'Connor & Associates in 1992, Brinson Partners Chicago in 1994, S. G. Warburg & Co in 1995, and Dillon, Read & Co. in 1997.