FleetBoston Financial Corporation History

Company Perspectives:

FleetBoston Financial is combining the best of our two organizations, Fleet and BankBoston, to create exceptional financial opportunities for 20 million customers. Our innovative banking services are complemented by a firm commitment to strengthen the communities where we do business through financial support, sponsorships, community development and service programs. Key Dates:

Key Dates:

1784:

Massachusetts Bank is founded in Boston.

1791:

Providence Bank is founded in Rhode Island.

1803:

The State Bank of Albany is formed in upstate New York.

1836:

The Warren Bank, predecessor of Shawmut National Corporation, is founded in Boston.

1859:

Safety Fund Bank is founded in Boston.

1864:

Massachusetts Bank becomes a national bank, as Massachusetts National Bank of Boston; Safety Fund becomes a national bank, as First National Bank of Boston.

1865:

Providence Bank becomes a national bank, under the name Providence National Bank.

1886:

The Industrial Trust Company is established in Rhode Island.

1903:

Massachusetts National and First National Bank of Boston merge, taking the latter's name.

1926:

Providence National makes first acquisition, Merchants National Bank.

1944:

Baystate Corporation, predecessor of BayBanks, Inc., is founded in Boston.

1951:

Providence National acquires Union Trust Company.

1952:

Providence National changes its name to Providence Union National Bank and Trust.

1954:

Providence Union merges with Industrial Trust, forming Industrial National Bank.

1968:

Industrial National forms holding company, Industrial Bancorp.

1970:

Industrial Bancorp is renamed Industrial National Corporation; Bank of Boston reorganizes under a new holding company, First National Boston Corporation.

1972:

Industrial National begins diversifying into nonbank financial services; State Bank of Albany takes over Liberty Bank of Buffalo, creating a holding company called Union Bank of New York.

1982:

Union Bank is renamed Norstar Bancorp; Industrial National is renamed Fleet Financial Group, Inc.

1983:

First National Boston changes its name to Bank of Boston Corporation .

1985:

Fleet makes its first bank acquisition outside Rhode Island, First Connecticut Bancorp of Hartford.

1988:

Fleet acquires Norstar, forming Fleet/Norstar Financial Group.

1991:

Fleet/Norstar takes over the failed Bank of New England.

1992:

Fleet/Norstar readopts the name Fleet Financial Group, Inc.

1995:

Fleet acquires Shawmut National and moves its headquarters to Boston.

1996:

Fleet acquires New Jersey-based NatWest Bancorp; Bank of Boston acquires BayBanks.

1997:

Fleet acquires Columbia Management Company, an asset management firm; Bank of Boston changes its name to BankBoston Corporation.

1998:

Fleet acquires discount broker Quick & Reilly, the consumer credit card operations of Advanta Corporation, and Merrill Lynch Specialists; BankBoston acquires Robertson Stephens, an investment banking firm.

1999:

Fleet acquires Sanwa Business Credit, a leasing and asset-based lending firm; Fleet acquires BankBoston and renames itself Fleet Boston Corporation.

2000:

Company is renamed FleetBoston Financial Corporation.

Company History:

Further Reading:

• Babson, Jennifer, 'A Stunning Decade Caps 200 Years of Sleepy Growth: Fleet Cements Place as New England's Premier Bank,' Boston Globe, March 15, 1999, p. A12.
• Beam, Alex, 'Bank of Boston: A Public Relations Nightmare,' Business Week, March 4, 1985, p. 38.
• Blanton, Kimberly, 'Giant Fleet-Shawmut Deal Will Boost Region, Take Toll,' Boston Globe, February 22, 1995.
• Blanton, Kimberly, and Doug Bailey, 'Behind the Bank of Boston Bloodbath: Risky New Emphasis on Retail Banking Helped Prompt Axing of Top Executives,' Boston Globe, November 9, 1993.
• Bradford, Stacey L., 'All Dressed Up?,' Financial World, February 18, 1997, pp. 39--41.
• Browning, Lynnley, 'A Nod to History, Heritage in Bank's Renaming,' Boston Globe, October 26, 1999, p. D1.
• Chacon, Richard, 'Managing the Crisis: BankBoston Sticks to Latin Expansion Strategy,' Boston Globe, September 30, 1998, p. E1.
• Chipello, Christopher J., 'Lend and Learn: Bank of Boston Faces the Perils That Await Eager `Superregionals,' Wall Street Journal, November 17, 1989.
• Crozier, William M., Jr., BayBanks, New York: Newcomen Society of the United States, 1989, 19 p.
• 'Fleet Financial, to Lessen Realty Woes, May Sell Third of Non-Performing Assets,' Wall Street Journal, September 17, 1992, p. A3.
• 'Fleet/Norstar Financial Group, Inc.,' Barron's, September 11, 1989, p. 20.
• 'Fleet's Ship Comes In,' Business Week, November 9, 1992, p. 104.
• Grant, John F., and William C. Bullock, Jr., Merrill Bankshares Company, New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 1977, 22 p.
• Hechinger, John, 'Fleet Boston Executives Make Big Bet on Online Strategy,' Wall Street Journal, October 29, 1999, p. B4.
• ------, 'FleetBoston, Flexing Its Muscles, Focuses on New York,' Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2000, p. B4.
• ------, 'Fleet Financial to Acquire BankBoston,' Wall Street Journal, March 15, 1999, p. A3.
• ------, 'Fleet Touts Benefits of BankBoston Deal,' Wall Street Journal, March 16, 1999, p. A3.
• Henderson, Barry, 'Siren Song: With Lust in Its Heart, Fleet Grabs Columbia,' Barron's August 18, 1997, p. 34.
• Hirsch, James S., 'Bank of Boston's Gifford Attacks Its Hidebound Image,' Wall Street Journal, December 14, 1995, p. B4.
• ------, 'Once-Stodgy Bank of Boston Is Adding a Brazilian Beat,' Wall Street Journal, July 26, 1996, p. B4.
• Hirsch, James S., and Steven Lipin, 'Bank of Boston to Acquire BayBanks for $2 Billion,' Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1995, p. A3.
• Ip, Greg, and John Hechinger, 'FleetBoston Is Set to Buy M.J. Meehan & Co., Creating Largest Specialist Firm on NYSE Floor,' Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2000, p. C18.
• Kerber, Ross, 'Fleet, BankBoston at E-Crossroads,' Boston Globe, August 3, 1999, p. D1.
• ------, 'Fleet Financial Faces a Choice: To Buy or Be Bought?,' Wall Street Journal, December 2, 1997, p. B4.
• ------, 'Robertson Stephens May Not Alter BankBoston's Status: Purchase for $800 Million Still Leaves Firm Vulnerable to Takeovers,' Wall Street Journal, June 1, 1998, p. B4.
• Knecht, G. Bruce, and Suzanne Alexander Ryan, 'Grim Procedure: Fleet Financial's Plan to Reduce Its Payroll Involved Long Process,' Wall Street Journal, March 10, 1994, p. A1.
• Knowles, Asa S., Shawmut: 150 Years of Banking, 1836-1986, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986, 517 p.
• Koselka, Rita, 'Repentance,' Forbes, October 26, 1992, p. 144.
• Lipin, Steven, Patrick McGeehan, and James S. Hirsch, 'Fleet Financial to Acquire Quick & Reilly,' Wall Street Journal, September 17, 1997, p. A3.
• O'Brien, Timothy L., and Steven Lipin, 'Bank of Boston's Ira Stepanian Resigns After Failed Quests for a Merger Partner,' Wall Street Journal, July 28, 1995, p. A3.
• O'Donnell, Thomas, 'A Slightly Improper Bostonian,' Forbes, August 3, 1981, pp. 35+.
• Oliveri, David, 'Bank of Boston Joins Mutual Fund Parade,' Boston Business Journal, March 19, 1993, p. 1.
• Rebello, Joseph, 'Bank of Boston Reaps Rewards of Its Latin Investment,' Wall Street Journal, November 3, 1994, p. B4.
• Rebello, Joseph, and Steven Lipin, 'Bank of Boston's CEO Is Odd Man Out in New England,' Wall Street Journal, February 24, 1995, p. B4.
• 'Right Time, Right Place, Right Price,' Business Week, May 6, 1991, pp. 26--29.
• Ryan, Suzanne Alexander, 'Bank of Boston Ties Fortunes to Loans for Small Firms,' Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1994, p. B4.
• ------, 'Bank of Boston Top Managers Knew of Weak Loans Ahead of `89 Disclosure,' Wall Street Journal, April 25, 1994, p. A4.
• Smith, Geoffrey, 'Fleet's Can-Do Spirit: We Can Do Without,' Business Week, March 21, 1994, p. 106.
• ------, 'These Brahmins Are Learning to Hustle: Bank of Boston Is Shedding Its Stuffiness to Better Its Bottom Line,' Business Week, July 26, 1993, p. 69.
• Smith, Geoffrey, Phillip L. Zweig, and Alison Rea, 'Time to Put Away the Checkbook: Now, Fleet Needs to Bring Order to Its Furious Expansion,' Business Week, June 10, 1996, p. 97.
• Stein, Charles, 'Region's Giant Banks Battle On: BankBoston, Fleet Vie for Funds, Attention,' Boston Globe, July 28, 1997, p. A1.
• 'Terry Murray's Regional View,' Industry Week, November 11, 1985, p. 66.
• Therrien, Lois, 'Bank of Boston Anchors Closer to Home,' Business Week, December 3, 1984, p. 149.
• Torres, Craig, and Ross Kerber, 'Argentine Judge Says He Warned BankBoston on Loan-Case Figure,' Wall Street Journal, May 7, 1998, p. B18.
• 'Unbankerish Banker,' Forbes, July 16, 1984, pp. 123--27.
• Wessel, Davis, and Bob Davis, 'Under a Cloud: Bank of Boston Faces Image Problem Likely to Linger for Years,' Wall Street Journal, March 7, 1985.
• 'Who Was Minding the Shop?,' Forbes, March 10, 1986, p 135.
• Wilke, John R., 'Bank of Boston Forces Out Entire Layer of Senior Management in Surprise Move,' Wall Street Journal, November 1, 1993, p. B5.
• Williams, Ben Ames, Jr., Bank of Boston 200: A History of New England's Leading Bank, 1784-1984, Boston: Houghton, 1984, 480 p.
• Zuckoff, Mitchell, 'Bank of Boston Bounces Back,' Boston Globe, December 29, 1992.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 36. St. James Press, 2001.