City National Bank (California)
File:City National Bank (California) logo.png | |
Headquarters | 555 South Flower Street Los Angeles, California 90071 |
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Key people | Alfred S. Hart (founder) Benjamin N. Maltz (first Chairman) Russell Goldsmith (Chairman and CEO) Bram Goldsmith (Chairman Emeritus) |
Total assets | $35.6 billion |
Parent | Royal Bank of Canada |
Website | cnb |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/PaulHastingsTower.jpg/220px-PaulHastingsTower.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/City_National_Bank_CYN_1140_6Av_44St_jeh.jpg/240px-City_National_Bank_CYN_1140_6Av_44St_jeh.jpg)
City National Bank (CNB) is an American financial institution headquartered in the City National Plaza in Los Angeles, California, owned by Royal Bank of Canada.
Overview
The bank has total assets of $32 billion (as of September 30, 2014).[1] It offers a full complement of banking, trust and investment services through 75 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta.[1] After the closure or merger of many Los Angeles banks, it has become the largest bank headquartered in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It also acts as a processing bank, providing back office services such as checking account processing and check clearance services for smaller local banks that do not do their own processing.
It has an established relationship with many entertainment industry clients, and deals with many exclusive and premier clients from various media, including television, film, theater and the arts.[2] Because of this, media reports have claimed that the bank is nicknamed "bank to the stars".[3]
It is a national bank, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States Department of the Treasury. City National Bank should not be confused with the former Cleveland-based National City Bank, or First National City Bank, the former name of Citibank.
History
The bank was founded in 1954 by Alfred S. Hart.[2][4][5] He hired Benjamin N. Maltz as the first Chairman of the Board.[4] Its offices were in Beverly Hills at 400 North Roxbury Drive.[5]
In 1963, when Frank Sinatra's son was kidnapped, the bank put up the $240,000 demanded as ransom money.[2] In 1970, its stock began trading over the counter.[5]
In the 1990s, it acquired seven banks: First Los Angeles Bank (1995), Ventura County National Bank (1997), Frontier Bank (1997), Riverside National Bank (1997), Harbor Bank (1998), North American Trust Company (1998), and American Pacific State Bank (1999).[1] In 2000, the bank expanded into Northern California in with the purchase of The Pacific Bank, followed by the acquisition of the Oakland-based Civic BanCorp in 2002.[1] It had also acquired The Pacific Bank in 2000 as well as Reed, Conner & Birdwell and the People's Bank of California in 2001.[1]
In 2002, City National opened an office in New York City to serve its California-based clientele who do business on both coasts, as well as prospective clients in Manhattan. In that decade, it continued to acquire more banks: Convergent Capital Management, LLC (2003), Business Bank of Nevada (2006), Convergent Wealth Advisors (2007), Lee Munder Capital Group (2009), Imperial Capital Bank (2009).[1]
It then acquired two more banks in 2010: 1st Pacific Bank and Sun West Bank. In mid-2011, the bank opened a branch in Nashville, Tennessee.[3] In 2012, it acquired Rochdale Investment Management and First American Equipment Finance.[1]
On January 22, 2015, City National announced a "definitive agreement" to be acquired by Royal Bank of Canada.[6][7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g City National Bank website: Company overview
- ^ a b c Kathryn Tully, Making New York an offer it can't refuse, The Financial Times, August 4, 2006
- ^ a b Reckard, E. Scott (June 9, 2011). "City National Bank goes a little bit country". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ a b John M. Broder, Bram Goldsmith: Maverick Banker to Stars : City National Chief Is a Top Deal-Maker and Industry's Best Paid, The Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1985
- ^ a b c "History" on the City National Bank website
- ^ City National Corporation Announces Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Royal Bank of Canada, accessed January 22, 2015
- ^ The Canadian Press (22 January 2015). "Royal Bank to buy U.S.-based City National in $5.4B US deal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.