Allied Irish Banks
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Template:Infobox Company Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB),Template:Ise, Template:Lse, Template:Nyse, Template:Xetra is a commercial bank based in Ireland not to be mistaken for Anglo Irish Bank. AIB is part of the so called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland.
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Services
The bank has one the largest branch networks in Ireland, with only Bank of Ireland fully rivalling it. It offers a full range of personal banking services, including loans, credit cards, and mortgages. It offers life assurance and pensions through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ark Life Assurance.
The bank also offers the full range of corporate banking services.
AIB Capital Markets is the division of the company that offers international banking and treasury operations. It offers stockbroking services through its subsidiary Goodbody Stockbrokers.
Internationally, AIB operates mainly in the United Kingdom (as Allied Irish Bank (GB)) and Poland (as BZ-WBK). It also owns a 22.5% stake in the United States bank M&T Bank.
AIB is part of the Laser debit card system.
Name
Allied Irish Banks is usually referred to, both inside and outside the company, as simply AIB and often incorrectly as "Allied Irish Bank". In Northern Ireland however, the bank is known as First Trust Bank, while in Great Britain, it is called "Allied Irish Bank (GB)" - the only part of the operation where the full name, in the singular, is still in day-to-day use.
Initially, the bank operated under the names of its former constituent companies, alongside a new AIB logo, a circle divided in three with an "A" at the centre. From 1970, these were replaced by "Allied Irish Banks". In 1990, AIB introduced a new logo (prompted, it was said in some quarters, by the remarkable similarity between its previous logo and that of Mercedes-Benz.). Since then, the bank has preferred to be referred to as simply "AIB", though "Allied Irish Banks plc" remains its legal name.
History
- 1825: Provincial Bank commences operations. It pioneers joint stock branch banking in Ireland and opens a branch in London.
- 1836: Royal Bank of Ireland (RBI) commences operations.
- 1837: RBI merges in Shaw’s Bank.
- 1864: The Munster Bank is established.
- 1867: The Munster Bank purchases some of the branches of the unsuccessful Union Bank of Ireland.
- 1870: The Munster Bank acquires the long established private bank of David La Touche & Son.
- 1885: The Munster Bank fails due to mismanagement and fraud and is liquidated. Munster and Leinster Bank commences operations and becomes the largest of the three banks with the most extensive branch network.
- 1923: The Royal Bank of Ireland buys the Irish Free State business of the Belfast Banking Company.
- 1966: Provincial, Royal, and Munster Leinster merge to form Allied Irish Banks.
- 1977: AIB establishes a branch in NY. AIB builds much of its banking business around the nonprofit sector.
- 1983: AIB invests in First Maryland Bancorp.
- 1990: New AIB corporate logo is introduced, trading name for retail division is abbreviated from "Allied Irish Banks" to "AIB Bank". Henceforth the company is usually referred to as "AIB", though the "Allied Irish Bank" brand was later reintroduced in Great Britain.
- 1991: AIB merges the Group's interests in Northern Ireland with those of TSB Northern Ireland to create First Trust Bank.
- 1995: AIB takes a 16.3% stake in Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK).
- 1996: AIB acquires a further 20% stake in WBK from the State, AIB takes part in Laser.
- 1997: AIB acquires Dauphin Deposit Corporation in the US. AIB acquires shares in WBK from the EBRD, bringing its ownership to 60%.
- 1999: AIB reaches an agreement with the Polish State Treasury to acquire an 80% shareholding in Bank Zachodni. AIB signs an agreement with Keppel TatLee Bank giving AIB the right to acquire a 24.9% share.
- 2000: Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy and Bank Zachodni merge to form Bank Zachodni WBK.
- 2001: AIB sells its interest in Keppel TatLee.
- 2003: AIB transfers Allfirst (see: John Rusnak) to M&T Bank Corporation. AIB now has a 22.5% stake in M&T, which is headquartered in Buffalo, New York. AIB maintains repressentative offices in the United States in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and White Plains.
See Also
External link
- Official site (http://www.aib.ie)