Hollandsche Bank-Unie
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Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU) is a second-tier domestic bank in the Netherlands, but one with a fascinating international history. It is a subsidiary of ABN AMRO.
History
- 1914: HBU began as Hollandsche Bank voor Zuid-Amerika under the patronage of the Rotterdamsche Bank. The bank opened in Buenos Aires under the name of Banco Holandés de la América del Sud.
- 1916: Banco Holandés opened a branch in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1919: Banco Holandés opened a branch in São Paulo. Rotterdamsche and Zuid-Amerika formed Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee. Hollandsche Bank voor West-Indië was established with headoffice in Amsterdam to operate branches in Curaçao. Original shareholders included the Royal West India Mail/Royal Netherlands Steamship Company and the subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell which ran Curaçao's refinery, as well as the Bank of Suriname, the Nederlandsche Haandels Matshappij, and the Rotterdam Bank Association.
- 1920: Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee opened branches in Genoa, Barcelona, Marseilles, Constantinople, and later Tel Aviv.
- 1920: Hollandsche Bank voor West-Indië (HBWI) opened a branch in Caracas, the first branch of a European bank.
- 1922: Zuid-Amerika operated branches in Genoa, Hamburg, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Santiago, São Paulo and Valparaiso.
- 1933: Hollandsche Zuid-Amerika merged with Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee to form Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU).
- 1935: HBU acquired HBWI, together with its branches in Willemstad and Caracas.
- 1939: HBU acquired G. von Dantzig & co.
- 1941: HBU acquired de s’Gravenhaagsche Creditvereeniging en Depositkas.
- 1952: HBU established a branch in Uruguay.
- 1954: HBU established a branch in Beirut.
- 1957: HBU maintained branches in the Netherlands, Neth. Antilles, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Suriname.
- 1965: HBU established a branch in Paraguay. At this point it also had branches in Ecuador.
- 1967: At some point after the 6-Day War, HBU closed its branches in Israel.
- 1968: Algemene Bank Nederland acquired HBU but the overseas branches continued to operate under the HBU name. HBU also maintained branches in Aruba.
- 1969: HBU merged its Netherlands Antilles branches with Aruba Commercial Bank (est. 1949), Bonaire Commercial Bank (est. 1962), and Edwards, Henriques & Co. (est. 1856). All the banks were affiliates of ABN. The new bank’s name became Antilliaanse Bank Unie.
- 1972: ABN absorbed all HBU's overseas branches.
- 2001: ABN sold the Ecuadorian operation inherited from HBU to Banco del Pichincha (est. 1906).
External link
[Bank-Unie website (http://www.hbu.nl/|Hollandsche)]