Ionian Bank facts for kids
The Ionian Bank was a British bank that started in 1839. It was created to help with money in the Ionian Islands, which were then protected by Britain. This bank also acted like the main bank for the United States of the Ionian Islands. Later, the Ionian Bank grew and opened branches in Greece and other areas around the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
After losing its branches in Egypt when the government took them over, the bank stopped operating in the Mediterranean. It sold all its businesses there. Later, two people named Michael Behrens and John Trusted bought the Ionian Bank. They changed it into a type of bank called a merchant bank in London. This London bank was not very successful. In 1977, it willingly gave up its special permission to be a bank. The part of the bank that operated in Greece was renamed Ionian Popular Bank. It became part of Alpha Bank in the year 2000.
History
How It Started
The Ionian Bank was officially started in 1839 by a special rule from the government of the Ionian Islands. Its main goal was to help with trade between the Ionian Islands and Great Britain. This made it the oldest bank in Greece. The bank was given a special right for 20 years to be the only one that could print and use banknotes (paper money) in the Ionian Islands.
The bank quickly changed its name to Ionian Bank (IB). At first, it only worked in the Ionian Islands. It opened branches in Corfu, Zakynthos, and Kefalonia the very next year. In 1845, the bank received a special permission from the British King or Queen, called a royal charter. After that, it opened smaller offices in Athens and Patras. It also had special helpers in Venice and Trieste to manage its business.
Growing in Greece
In 1864, the Ionian Islands joined Greece. A new special rule made the Ionian Bank a Société Anonyme, which is like a public company. The Greek government also took on the bank's debts. In that same year, the smaller offices in Athens and Patras became full branches. The Ionian Bank then started to do business all over Greece. By 1873, the main office moved from Corfu to Athens.
By 1880, the bank no longer had the special right to be the only one printing money in the Islands. However, it was allowed to keep printing money, even though other banks could too. In 1883, the Ionian Bank gave up its royal charter. It then became a limited liability company, which is a common type of business. The bank kept its Greek permission to operate until 1905. It also started to expand into Egypt, opening a branch in Alexandria in 1907.
During World War I, the Ionian Bank helped the Allied forces (like Britain and its friends) with their money needs in the Balkans. It opened new branches in places like Salonika, Syra, Chios, and Mitylene.
Between the Wars
In 1920, the Ionian Bank lost its special right to print money. Two years later, in 1922, the Ionian Bank bought the branch of an American bank, Guaranty Trust Co., in Constantinople (now Istanbul). It might have also had a smaller office in Smyrna. In 1924, the Ionian Bank continued to grow internationally by opening an office in New York, USA.
Then, in 1926, the bank opened a branch in Nicosia, Cyprus. The next year, it opened smaller offices in Famagusta, Limassol, and Larnaca in Cyprus. However, the Ionian Bank pulled back from New York in 1928, closing its office there. The next year, it sold its branch in Constantinople to another bank called Deutsche Bank. Finally, in 1938, the Ionian Bank bought most of the shares of another bank called Popular Bank, which had started in 1905.
World War II and After
During World War II, the Italians took over the Ionian Bank's shares in Popular Bank by force. They ran Popular Bank as an Italian bank during the war. After the war ended, the Ionian Bank got its shares back. In 1949, the Ionian Bank bought even more shares in Popular Bank. Two years later, it went back to Egypt and opened a branch in Cairo.
In 1956, the Egyptian government created a new bank called Bank Al-Goumhourieh. This new bank took over the Egyptian businesses of the Ionian Bank and another bank called the Ottoman Bank. This happened after the Suez Canal War. At this time, all British and French banks in Egypt were taken over by the government, a process called nationalization.
The next year, the Ionian Bank sold its businesses in Greece to the Commercial Bank of Greece. The Commercial Bank of Greece kept the Ionian Bank as a separate business for a while. The Ionian Bank also sold its businesses in Cyprus to the Chartered Bank. The Ionian Bank in Greece then joined with its smaller bank, Popular Bank, to become the Ionian and Popular Bank of Greece. Eventually, Alpha Bank bought the Ionian and Popular Bank of Greece in 1999 and fully took it over in 2000. The Commercial Bank of Greece also bought the Ionian Bank's branch in London.
See also
- Alpha Bank
- Banknote Museum
- List of banks in Greece
