Williams & Glyn's Bank

Williams & Glyn's Bank Limited

Former type	Subsidiary undertaking
Industry	Financial Services
Fate	Merger with parent
Successor	Royal Bank of Scotland Plc
Founded	1970 (1753 as Glyn, Mills)
Defunct	1985 (still files accounts with Companies House[1])
Headquarters	1 Princes Street, London EC2R 8PB
Products	Banking and Insurance
Parent	The Royal Bank of Scotland

Williams & Glyn's Bank Limited was established in London in 1970, when the Royal Bank of Scotland merged its two subsidiaries in England and Wales, Williams Deacon's Bank Ltd. and Glyn, Mills & Co.^[2] In 1985, Williams & Glyn's was fully absorbed into the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and ceased to trade separately.^[3]

History

Williams Deacon's Bank

Williams Deacon's was founded as the joint-stock Manchester & Salford Bank in 1836, becoming a limited liability company in 1881. Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, Thornton & Co., established in 1771 as Raymond, Vere, Lowe & Fletcher, were appointed as London agent and later acquired by the bank in 1890. The renamed Williams Deacon and Manchester & Salford Bank Limited moved their head office from Manchester to London in order to retain Williams, Deacon & Company's membership of the clearing house. ^[4]

The name was shortened to Williams Deacon's Bank in 1901. In 1930, the bank was purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland as the basis for its expansion into England.^[5]

Glyn, Mills & Co.

An early Williams & Glyn's Automated Teller Machine.

Glyn, Mills & Co. was founded as the private bank, Vere, Glyn & Hallifax, in the City of London in 1753 by Joseph Vere, Richard Glyn and Thomas Hallifax . It first became known as Glyn, Mills & Company in 1851 and later, in 1924, the bank acquired Child & Co. from the 8th Earl of Jersey. Child & Company, founded in the 1580s, remains part of RBS Group Wealth Management today.^[6] In 1923, it also acquired the private military bank Holt & Company, founded in 1809, which continued to trade separately until merged into the Drummonds Bank business in 1992.^[7][8]

In 1939, the bank was purchased by Royal Bank of Scotland, which became known as the Three Banks Group.^[9]

National Bank

The National Bank of Ireland was founded in London in 1835, becoming The National Bank Limited in 1859. The bank's core Irish business was divested to the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland as National Bank of Ireland in 1966.^[10] The remaining branches in England and Wales were acquired by National Commercial Bank of Scotland (itself formed by the 1959 merger of National Bank of Scotland and Commercial Bank of Scotland), although they continued to trade separately.

In 1969, National Commercial Bank merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland and, in 1970, the National Bank branches became part of the newly formed Williams & Glyn's Bank, consolidating their interests south of the border.^[11] In 1972, Williams & Glyn's and five other banks formed the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, of which RBS Group remains a member, to exploit opportunities in the then European Economic Community.^[12]

Future

In 2000, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group acquired National Westminster Bank in a hostile takeover.^[13] In 2009, it was announced that all 311 Royal Bank branches in England and Wales together with the seven Scottish branches of NatWest were to be divested by the troubled Group, possibly under the dormant Williams & Glyn's brand, to comply with European Union state aid requirements.^[14][15] The process was expected to take up to four years to complete.^{[16][17][18][19]}

In March 2010, it was reported that the Group had issued a sales memorandum for the business, which would include 318 branches and around £20bn of loans provided to small businesses and households. Following the deadline for initial bids passing on 7 April, Banco Santander, Virgin Money, National Australia Bank, BBVA and the private equity firm JC Flowers were all confirmed to have submitted bids for consideration.^[20] It was announced on 3 August, that the Spanish Grupo Santander will pay about £1.65bn for the branches, expected to be rebranded Santander UK, in a deal set to be completed by December 2011.^[21]

See also

• Williams & Glyn's Bank v Boland

References

1. ^ Registered in England and Wales under the Companies Act 1985, No. 952374
2. ^ The Williams & Glyn's Bank Act 1970 (cap. 14), see HC Deb. 23 July 1970 Vol. 804 cc.758-60 for Royal Assent
3. ^ Williams & Glyn's Bank Ltd, London, 1970-85 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
4. ^ Williams, Deacon & Co, London, 1771-1890 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
5. ^ Williams Deacon's Bank Ltd, Manchester and London, 1836-1970 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
6. ^ Child & Co, London, c.1580s-date The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
7. ^ Holt & Co, London, 1809-1992 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 11 May 2010)
8. ^ Holt's Military Banking Royal Bank of Scotland (retrieved 11 May 2010)
9. ^ Glyn, Mills & Co, London, 1753-1970 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
10. ^ Not to be confused with the present day National Irish Bank, formed in 1986 as Northern Bank (Ireland) Limited, the National Bank of Ireland was merged into the Bank of Ireland in 1969
11. ^ The National Bank Ltd, London, 1835-1970 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Heritage Archives (retrieved 23 November 2009)
12. ^ The Royal Bank of Scotland Group The Inter-Alpha Group of Banks (retrieved 21 January 2010)
13. ^ NatWest takeover battle BBC News, 11 February 2000 09:53 GMT
14. ^ Announcement on the APS and State Aid Discussions The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Company Announcements, 3 November 2009
15. ^ Scottish Branch Sale National Westminster Bank (retrieved 23 November 2009). In 1975 NatWest had been one of the first London banks to open a representative office in Scotland
16. ^ Hill, Andrew Welcome back, Williams & Glyn’s, the SME’s friend The Financial Times, 13 October 2009
17. ^ Dey, Iain RBS to relaunch historic Williams & Glyn's brand after 24 year absence The Sunday Times, 13 September 2009
18. ^ Hosking, Patrick Williams & Glyn's bank could make comeback The Times, 15 September 2009
19. ^ Mason, Rowena and Blackden, Richard New banks on the High Street: Williams and Glyn's The Daily Telegraph, 1 November 2009
20. ^ Harry Wilson (8 April 2010). "RBS offers loans to buy payment-processing arm". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7564656/RBS-offers-loans-to-buy-payment-processing-arm.html. 
21. ^ RBS sells 318 branches to Santander BBC News, 4 August 2010 11:40 BST

External links

• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group