Royal Bank of Canada

The Royal Bank of Canada (Banque Royale du Canada in French) is Canada's largest company and bank.^[2]

Its master brand is RBC and that name is used on all its business units or subsidiaries. In Canada, the bank is branded as RBC Royal Bank, a combination of its new master brand and its traditional Canadian brand. Some business units of RBC are:

• investment banking division RBC Capital Markets,
• full service investment brokerage firm RBC Dominion Securities,
• online investment site RBC Direct Investing,
• life insurance firm RBC Insurance.
  

RBC also has a large retail banking presence in the southeastern United States, marketing itself there as RBC Bank.

RBC ranks number 55 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.^[3] Its market cap fluctuates at around CAD$ 63.7 billion as of October 31, 2006.

As of 2008, RBC is the largest financial institution/bank in Canada measured in both assets and market capitalization. RBC has more than 1500 branches in Canada, offices in 46 countries, and serves clients from 150 countries. RBC currently serves more than 15 million customers in Canada and employs more than 70,000 full and part-time employees internationally.^[4]

Timeline

• 1864 - Merchants Bank founded in Halifax
• 1869 - Changed named to Merchants' Bank of Halifax
• 1869 - Federal charter received
• 1870 - 1880s - Expansion in Maritime Provinces
• 1901 - Name changed to Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• 1907 - Head Office moved from Halifax to Montreal
• 1910 - Merged with Union Bank of Halifax
• 1912 - Merged with Traders Bank of Canada
• 1917 - Merged with Quebec Bank
• 1918 - Merged with Northern Crown Bank
• 1925 - Merged with Union Bank of Canada
• 1961 - Installed its first computer which is also the first in Canadian banking
• 1993 - Merged with Royal Trust
• 2000 - Merged merchant credit/debit card acquiring business with BMO Bank of Montreal's to form Moneris Solutions
• 2006 - Created Institutional Investment Joint Venture with Dexia. It is a 50/50 Partnership called RBC Dexia Investor Services. [1]

International timeline

The Royal Bank Plaza building in Toronto, Ontario

An RBC branch in Markham.

RBC has carved out a name for itself as a leader in the Caribbean region. RBC Royal Bank maintains a profitable base from its Caribbean operations, and has retained high brand recognition among its other top competitors. RBC is especially known in the anglophone Caribbean for its various personal and business banking services in retailing, loans, and credit offerings.

• 1882 - Bermuda office opens
• 1899 - RBC opens an agency in New York and a branch in Havana.
• 1903 - Buys Banco de Oriente de Santiago de Cuba. By the mid-1920s, RBC has 65 branches in Cuba and is the largest bank in the country.
• 1904 - Buys Banco del Commercio de Havana.
• 1907 - Opens a branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico; branches in Mayagüez and Ponce follow.
• 1909 - RBC established a branch in Nassau, Bahamas.
• 1910 - Opens a branch in London and acquires a branch in Trinidad as a result of its acquisition of Union Bank of Halifax.
• 1911 - Opens branches in Jamaica and Barbados.
• 1912 - Opens a branch in British Honduras and another in the Dominican Republic; three more follow
• 1913 - Opens a branch in Grenada
• 1914 - Opens a branch in British Guiana. Buys out Bank of British Guiana and Bank of Honduras.
• 1915 - Opens branches in Costa Rica, Antigua, Dominica, and St. Kitts
• 1916 - Opens a branch in Venezuela
• 1917 - Opens branches in Nevis, Montserrat, and Tobago
• 1918 - Opens a branch in Barcelona, and another in Vladivostok that lasts less than a year.
• 1919 - Opens branches in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paris, Martinique, Guadaloupe, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
• 1920 - Opens a branch in Colombia and St. Lucia
• 1925 - Opens a branch in Peru, and acquires the American-owned, and failed, Bank of Central and South America. The purchase of BCSA brings with it subsidiaries, and their branches, in Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela
• 1940 - Branches in Martinique and Guadaloupe close
• 1960 - The Castro regime acquires the RBC's operations in Cuba
• 1970s - As a result of Law 75, RBC's operations in Colombia become Banco Royal Colombiano.
• 1980 - RBC purchases Banco de San Juan in Puerto Rico, adding its 14 branches to the six that RBC already has in Puerto Rico. RBC sells to Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, its assets in Grenada.
• 1985 - RBC starts to withdraw from much of the Caribbean. It sells its 12 branches in the Dominican Republic to Banco de Comercio Dominicano. It also sells its stake in Royal Bank (Jamaica) to Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance. Furthermore, the Government of Guyana nationalizes its operations there and renames the bank the National Bank of Industry and Commerce Ltd. [2], [3], [4] Additionally RBC incorporates its operations in Trinidad and Tobago locally, floating the shares, thereby divesting itself of ownership. The new bank takes the name Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT).
• 1986 - RBC sells its two branches in Haiti to Societe Generale Haitienne de Banque, a local bank.
• 1993 - RBC sells Royal Bank of Puerto Rico to Spain's Banco Bilbao-Vizcaya.
• 1995 - RBC sold Royal Trust Bank (Austria) to Anglo Irish Bank, which renamed it Anglo Irish Bank (Austria).
• 2001 - RBC acquires Centura bank based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
• 2003 - RBC purchases Florida interest in Provident Financial Group, Cincinnati OH
• 2006 - RBC upgraded its representative Office in Beijing, China to a branch.
• 2007 - RBC announces its acquisition of RBTT, after withdrawing from Trinidad and Tobago 20 years earlier.[5] [6]
• 2008 - RBC establishes a representative office in Mumbai, India. RBC re-acquires 98.14% of the shares of Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

RBC Bank (USA)

Main article: RBC Bank

A typical RBC Bank branch in Durham, North Carolina.

RBC has a large retail banking presence in the southeastern United States, marketing itself there as RBC Bank. RBC Bank is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The bank has recently merged with Flag Bank, increasing its presence in Georgia. RBC continues to grow in the Southeast after acquiring 39 branches of AmSouth Bank in Alabama on March 9, 2007 (previously RBC Centura had no locations in this state).^[5] RBC announced on January 17, 2008 that it would abandon the "Centura" brand in April 2008 and the U.S. operations would operate as RBC Bank. RBC's footprint in the Southern United States (namely Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) expanded significantly after its acquisition of Alabama National Bancorporation completed in June 2008.

Logo

The bank's symbol is a golden lion clutching a globe, on a blue background. An older version had a crown above the globe and had the lion facing to the left rather than the right. The change coincided with an expansion in United States markets. The logo is known and recognized in Canada as a famous symbol.

Corporate governance

Edson Loy Pease (1856-1930), a Quebec native, was a chief executive and managing director of the bank and one of the key people in its history. An employee of the Merchants' Bank of Halifax, he built that bank's Quebec business to where Montreal became its centre of operations. His efforts saw the Bank formally relocate its head office in 1907 to St. James Street in Montreal following which he induced the prominent Montreal business magnate Herbert S. Holt to accept an appointment as the bank's new President. While at the time Holt's presidency was largely a ceremonial position, his name substantially raised the bank's profile and broadened its business connections.

The title of Royal Bank's top executive has changed several times. Initially it was styled as President. Later, it became Chief Executive Officer and one often carried additional responsibilities as Chairman of the Board, while the second-in-command was the President. Allan R. Taylor was Chairman and CEO from 1986 to 1994, and he was succeeded by John Cleghorn in that capacity from 1994-2001. Gordon Nixon is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer, as the bank decided to appoint a non-executive chairman after Cleghorn's retirement.

Chief Executive

• Thomas E. Kenny (1879-1908)
• Herbert Samuel Holt (1908-1934)
• Morris W. Wilson (1934-1946)
• Sydney Dobson (1946-1949)
• James Muir (1949-1960)
• W. Earle McLaughlin (1960-1979)
• Rowland C. Frazee (1977-1980)
• Jock K. Finlayson (1980-1983)
• Allan R. Taylor (1983-1986) - Chairman and CEO (1986-1994)
• John E. Cleghorn (1986-2001) - Chairman and CEO (1994-2001)
• Gordon Nixon (2001-present) - President and CEO (2001-present)

Chairman (non-executive)

• Guy Saint-Pierre (2001-2004)
• David O'Brien (2004-present)

Current members of the board of directors are: Geoffrey Beattie, Douglas Elix, John Ferguson, Paule Gauthier, Jacques Lamarre, Brandt Louie, Gordon Nixon, David O'Brien, Robert Peterson, Pedro Reinhard, Timothy Hearn, Kathleen Taylor, Victor Young, Michael McCain, Alice Labeige.

History of Head Offices

The RBC's office in Montreal at the Place Ville-Marie.

• 1976-Present: Royal Bank Plaza, at 200 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario.
• 1962-1976: Place Ville-Marie, at University Street & René-Lévesque Blvd, Montreal, Quebec.
• 1928-1962: "Old Royal Bank Building, Montreal", at 360 Saint Jacques Street, Montreal, Quebec.
• 1907-1928: Four Pillars Building (now destroyed), at 147 Saint Jacques Street, Montreal, Quebec.
• 1864-1907: Merchants' Bank of Halifax Building, on Bedford Row, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

RBC's official legal headquarters still remains in Montreal at Place Ville-Marie. However, the great majority of management operations were moved to its current location in Toronto at the Royal Bank Plaza, making this the company's functional corporate headquarters.

Awards and Recognition

RBC has been awarded with many awards and recognition for its financial products and services. RBC is the most "valuable brand" in Canada for over three consecutive years. RBC is also one of the top 100 sustainable companies in the world. Other awards and recognitions include:

• In 2007, awarded the "Best Bank" in Canada by The Banker, one of the oldest banking magazines,
• In 2007, RBC was recognized as the Top Most 100 powerful brands in the world,
• Was recognized as the "most respected corporation" in Canada^[6]

Media attention

According to a global Newsweek ranking, which measures how effectively companies manage environmental risks and opportunities relative to their industry peers, Royal Bank of Canada is the most environmentally friendly company in the world.^[7]

On January 15, 2007, CBC Radio reported RBC is "refusing" people of certain nationalities to open U.S. dollar accounts with the bank.^[8] Canadian citizens with dual citizenship in Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea or Sudan (mostly countries with U.S. sanctions) are affected. The U.S. Treasury Department restricts certain foreign nationals from using the U.S. dollar payment system to limit terrorism and money laundering after the September 11, 2001 attacks. RBC replied that the compliance with such laws do not represent an endorsement by the bank and on January 17, clarified its position on the application of the U.S. laws, specifying that "with some exceptions" it does open accounts for dual citizens of the sanctioned countries.^[9]

In 2002, RBC purchased the naming rights for the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, N.C., home to the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League and North Carolina State University basketball. The arena was renamed the RBC Center, with a 20-year lease at a cost of $80 million. In June 2006, the RBC Center was host for the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, and on June 19, 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the RBC Center to win the Stanley Cup.

Memberships

RBC is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks.
It is also a member of:

• CarIFS ATM Network
• Interac
• MasterCard in the Caribbean markets
• NYCE point of sale Network
• Plus Network
• VISA International

References

External links

• Official Sites:
  • RBC
  • RBC Bank (USA)
  • RBC Dominion Securities
  • RBC Royal Bank of Canada
  • RBC Royal Bank of Canada (Caribbean and Bahamas)
  • RBC Wealth Management, International

Historical bank notes

• 1920 Trinidad and Tobago banknote (front) - Example of Royal Bank Caribbean banknotes
• 1920 Trinidad and Tobago banknote (back) - Example of Royal Bank Caribbean banknotes
• 1938 Saint Kitts banknote (front) - Example of Royal Bank of Canada banknotes
• 1938 Saint Kitts banknote (back) - Example of Royal Bank of Canada banknotes

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