Amalgamated Bank

This article is about the bank in New York. For the bank in Chicago, see Amalgamated Bank of Chicago.

Amalgamated Bank

Type	Private
Industry	Banking
Founded	1923 (1923)
Headquarters	275 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, USA
Key people	Keith Mestrich, President & CEO
Number of employees	501-1000 employees^[1]
Website	amalgamatedbank.com

Founded on April 14, 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America,^[2] Amalgamated Bank is the largest union-owned bank^[3] and one of the only unionized banks in the United States. Amalgamated Bank is currently majority owned by Workers United, an SEIU Affiliate. As of June 30, 2013, Amalgamated Bank has over $3.5 billion in assets and has never received a government bailout.^[4]

History

In 1927, Amalgamated Bank financed the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, the first union-supported housing development in the United States, which is located in The Bronx. In 1957, it financed the construction of Park Reservoir Housing Cooperative in the Bronx, which was the first affordable housing development created under New York State's Mitchell-Lama Housing Program.^[5] Amalgamated has a long history of helping union movements. It once opened its bank vaults on a Saturday in order to provide $300,000 in bail for striking workers. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) received $800,000 to post a cash bond within 24 hours. In 1973, bank employees worked all weekend to keep striking Philadelphia teachers out of jail. In 1982, Amalgamated made a $200,000 loan to the striking National Football League Players Association despite that they did not even have an account at the bank.^[6]

Products and Services

Headquartered in New York City, Amalgamated Bank has 24 branches including 20 across the 4 NYC boroughs and additional branches in Washington D.C, New Jersey, Nevada and California.^[7] There is also 24-hour access through online and mobile banking.Amalgamated Bank offers comprehensive financial services for individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Products include: deposits, loans, investments, cash management, residential and commercial mortgages. Checking customers have access to over 40,000 surcharge-free ATMs across the U.S. through the Allpoint Network.Amalgamated Bank specializes in providing loans and banking services to political and advocacy groups, nonprofit organizations, labor unions and Middle Market companies. Some notable customers of the bank include:

Democratic National Committee^[8]
Democratic Governors Association^[9]
Demos
DC Employment Justice Center
International Association of Firefighters^[10]
National Coalition of Black Civil Participation
Organizing for Action
Presidential Inauguration Committee
Public Citizen
United We Dream
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Institutional Asset Management and Custody Division

Through its Institutional Asset Management and Custody Division, Amalgamated Bank is one of the leading providers of investment and trust services to Taft-Hartley plans in the United States. As of June 31, 2013 the bank oversees over $33 billion in investment advisory and custodial services.

Corporate Governance

Amalgamated Bank promotes sustainable, long-term shareholder value by advocating sound environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices at portfolio firms. Amalgamated Bank adheres to and is a signatory of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment. The bank engages in shareholder actions including, but not limited to regulatory advocacy, proxy voting, and litigation to improve firm performance, safeguard shareholder value and recover shareholder losses.Amalgamated Bank has a long history of shareholder activism:

In the 1990s the bank urged that each Board be composed in majority of independent directors, long before this standard became a regulated requirement
In 1994, the bank fought sweatshop abuses by urging companies to adopt and monitor Codes of Conduct
In 1997, the bank started advocating full public reporting of all corporate political contributions, including “soft money” donations and later trade associations and 501(c)(4) organizations
In 2000, the bank started challenging outsized severance packages by demanding limits to golden parachutes
In 2001, the bank took legal action against Enron for massive accounting fraud, eventually recovering billions of dollars in losses for investors
In 2004, the bank pioneered shareholder resolutions requiring companies to have clawback policies in order to recover ill-gotten executive pay
In 2011, the bank spearheaded an initiative to urge oil companies to integrate environmental and safety performance as a condition for executives to be paid bonuses
In 2013, the bank achieved the largest shareholder derivative settlement in Delaware, alleging failed board oversight in the wake of the hacking scandal at News Corp