Ionian Bank

The Ionian Bank (IB) was a British overseas bank that investors established in 1839 to operate in the Ionian Isles, which was then a British Protectorate. The bank later expanded in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. During World War I, Ionian Bank served Allied military interests in the Balkans, opening branches at Salonika, Syra, Chios and Mitylene. However, during World War II, the Italians forcibly acquired IB's holdings in Popular Bank and ran it as an Italian bank for the duration. At the end of the War, IB regained its holdings. After losing its branches in Egypt to nationalization, IB retreated from the Mediterranean, selling all its operations there. Michael Behrens and John Trusted then acquired Ionian Bank, converting it into a merchant bank in London. It was never very successful and in 1977 it voluntarily gave up its banking license.

History

A "decree of the Eminent Senate of the Commonwealth of Ionian Islands" established the Ionian State Bank in 1839, to finance trade between the Ionian Islands (a British protectorate), and Great Britain. This made the bank the oldest in Greece. The bank received a 20-year grant of the exclusive privilege of issuing and circulating banknotes for the Ionian Islands. The bank soon changed its name to Ionian Bank (IB), and initially only operated in the Ionian Islands, opening branches in Corfu, Zakynthos and Kefalonia the following year. In 1845, a year after the bank received a UK Royal Charter, it established agencies in Athens and Patras, and appointed special agents in Venice and Trieste, .

In 1864, the Ionian Islands united with Greece and IB converted its agencies in Athens and Patras to full branches (possibly before 1864.) IB then extended its operations to the rest of Greece. The Athens office took over as Head Office from the Corfu office in 1873. By 1880, the bank lost its legal monopoly position in the Islands, but gained an extension to its (no longer exclusive) right of note issue. However, this privilege was lost in 1920. In 1883, IB gave up its Royal Charter and registered as a limited liability company.

Ionian Bank expanded into Egypt by opening branches in Alexandria in 1907, and Cairo in 1951. The bank also established branches in Nicosia, Cyprus and agencies in Famagusta, Limassol and Larnaca during the mid 1920s. However, in 1957 IB sold its Greek assets to the Commercial Bank of Greece, which maintained IB as a separate entity, and its assets in Cyprus to the Chartered Bank. The Egyptian government established Bank Al-Goumhourieh to take over the Egyptian operations of Ionian Bank and the Ottoman Bank in the wake of the Suez Canal War. IB had provided cover for British Intelligence (two directors of the bank, Sir Bickham Sweet-Escott and Robin Brooke, belonged to MI6), but all British and French banks were Egyptianized at the same time. The following year the Greek IB became the Ionian and Popular Bank of Greece by merging with its subsidiary, Popular Bank.

ources

* Ionian Bank (1953) "Ionian Bank Limited: A History". (London).
* Cottrell, P.L. (2002) Founding a multinational enterprise: Ionian Bank, 1833-1849, in P. Kostis, (ed.) "The creators and creation of banking enterprises in Europe from the 18th to the 20th centuries". (Athens: Historical Archives, Alpha Bank).
* Cottrell, P.L. (2007) "The Ionian Bank: An Imperial Institution, 1938-1864". (Athens: Historical Archives, Alpha Bank).
* Moncrief-Scott, Ian. 2001. International Trade on the Ionian Isles. "Financial History" (Winter), 28-31.
* Orbell, J. and A. Turton. 2001. "British Banking: a guide to the historical records". (Aldershot: Ashgate).

Archives

* [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((RefNo='ionian')AND(RefNo='bank')) Catalogue of the Ionian Bank papers] at the [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/Default.htm Archives Division] of the London School of Economics.
* [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/gutoho/IBminutebks.htm Court of Directors minute books, 1839 to 1917] .
* [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/leaflets/ionian_bank.pdf Ionian Bank leaflet (pdf)] .