Seafirst Corporation was an Americanbank holding company based inSeattle,Washington. Itsbanking subsidiary,Seafirst Bank, was the largest bank in Washington, with 235branches and 497ATMs across the state.^[1][2]

Seafirst Corporation

Trade name	Seafirst Bank
Company type	Public (1974–1983) Subsidiary (1983–1999)
Traded as	NYSE: SFC
Industry	Banking
Founded	November 11, 1929; 95 years ago (1929-11-11) inSeattle, Washington (as First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank) July 1, 1977; 47 years ago (1977-07-01) (as Seafirst Corporation)
Defunct	September 27, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-09-27)
Fate	Merged intoBank of America
Successor	Bank of America
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington
Area served	Washington
Parent	BankAmerica (1983–1999)
Subsidiaries	Seattle-First National Bank

Formed in 1929 via the merger of Seattle's three largest banks, Seafirst was acquired in 1983 byBankAmerica after posting huge losses from loans it purchased from the failedPenn Square Bank; the Seafirst brand was retired in 1999 afterNationsBank acquired BankAmerica the previous year and subsequently implemented theBank of America brand nationwide.

Seafirst Corporation was formed on November 11, 1929, from the merger ofSeattle's three largest banks, theFirst National Bank Group (founded 1882), theDexter Horton National Bank (founded 1870 byDexter Horton), andSeattle National Bank (founded 1889), the bank was originally named First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank. In 1931, the bank changed its name to First National Bank of Seattle, and again in 1935 to Seattle-First National Bank.^[3]

In 1944, the bank won a case before the US Supreme Court,United States v. Seattle-First Nat. Bank, by arguing that it did not have to pay a transfer tax when it converted from a state to a federally chartered bank. In 1970 it was using the name Firstbank.^[4] Seafirst Corporation was formed as a bank holding company for the Seattle-First National Bank on July 1, 1974.^[5][6]

In April 1983,^[7][8] San Francisco–basedBankAmerica Corporation announced the pending acquisition of the ailing Seafirst Corporation for $400 million in cash and stock,^[9][10] when Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becominginsolvent following the demise ofOklahoma City–basedPenn Square Bank. Seafirst had acquired a significant share of Penn Square's energy loan debt by participating in loans originated by that bank. Penn Square Bank collapsed in 1982, and the FDIC's decision to pay off only insured deposits rendered the participation assets valueless.^[11]

The acquisition was completed in July 1983.^[12] In September 1983, the bank began to use the Seafirst Bank brand for advertising purposes while still keeping Seattle-First National Bank as the legal name for the bank.^[13] For the next quarter-century, Seafirst Bank maintained a high degree of autonomy and reigned as the largest bank in Washington.

On February 10, 1997,$4.4 million was stolen from the Seafirst branch ofLakewood by theTrenchcoat Robbers.^[14]

Following the 1998 merger ofBankAmerica Corp. andNationsBank Corp. into the modernBank of America Corporation, Seafirst finally assumed theBank of America brand on September 27, 1999.^[15]

• Columbia Seafirst Center, corporate headquarters (1985–1999)
• Seafirst Building, corporate headquarters (1969–1985)

• The Bankoscope: Staff Publication of the Seattle-First National Bank. Special Anniversary Issue, June 1960, Volume XVIII. Seattle: Seattle-First National Bank, 1960.

• "Archived Seafirst Corporation Annual Reports (1937–1995)" – viaUniversity of Washington Libraries. (high resolution binaries; large file sizes)
• "Seattle First National Bank Inc. History". FundingUniverse.