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| NYSE: NB (until 1998) | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Predecessors | North Carolina National Bank C&S/Sovran |
| Founded | 1991; 35 years ago (1991) |
| Defunct | 1998 (1998) |
| Fate | Merged withBankAmerica |
| Successor | Bank of America Corporation |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
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NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based inCharlotte, North Carolina.[1] The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through multiple iterations. Its oldest predecessor companies had beenCommercial National Bank (CNB), formed in 1874, and American Trust Company founded in 1909.[citation needed] In 1998, NationsBank acquiredBankAmerica, and modified that better-known name to becomeBank of America Corporation.[2] The CEO of NationsBank throughout its entire existence wasHugh McColl, who led the merger with BankAmerica and became the first CEO of the present-dayBank of America.
NationsBank traced its roots to two banks in Charlotte.Commercial National Bank (CNB), the earliest forerunner of NationsBank, was formed in 1874. American Trust Company was founded a few blocks down Tryon Street in 1909.[citation needed]
In 1957, American Trust merged with Commercial National to formAmerican Commercial Bank. American Trust was the nominal survivor, and its president, Addison Reese, became president of the merged bank. Only four years later, in 1960, American Commercial merged withGreensboro-based Security National Bank to formNorth Carolina National Bank (NCNB). Although American Commercial was the nominal survivor, it gave up its North Carolina state charter and took over Security's national charter. In 1969, NCNB reorganized as a holding company, NCNB Corporation.
In 1973 Reese was succeeded as CEO by Tom Storrs,[3] who the next year turned the presidency of NCNB over to then 39-year-oldHugh McColl, who began an aggressive period of expansion. This was initially a defensive move. At the time, it was feared that the New York City money center banks might devour local Southern banks. It was believed that the only way to prevent this was if the stronger banks in the region became too rich to be taken over. NCNB expanded beyond North Carolina for the first time in 1982, when it purchased Lake City, Florida–based First National Bank of Lake City. McColl became CEO of NCNB the following year. McColl would remain CEO until 2001, usually as president and intermittently as chairman.
In 1988, NCNB's assets grew to $60 billion after it bought the failedFirst RepublicBank Corporation ofDallas, Texas from theFDIC. FirstRepublic, the largest bank in Texas, had entered FDIC receivership after filing bankruptcy in March, and was the largest FDIC bank failure in history.[citation needed]
By that time, NCNB had become associated with "mergers, acquisitions, expansion, integration". From 1989 to 1992, NCNB acquired over 200 thrifts and community banks, many of these through theResolution Trust program. Favorable terms, with the FDIC assuming most of the loan portfolios and absorbing mark-to-market losses, allowed NCNB to expand profitably, and a cost-cutting culture improved margins. Eventually, NCNB built a branch network stretching from Virginia to Florida, in addition to Texas.[citation needed]
In 1989, NCNB tried to become even more powerful by launching a hostile bid forCitizens & Southern Corporation ofAtlanta, which had been the South's biggest bank for much of the 20th century until NCNB passed it. Partly as a defensive measure, C&S merged withSovran Financial Corporation ofNorfolk, Virginia to form C&S/Sovran.[citation needed]
Only two years later, however, C&S/Sovran was nearly brought down by problem loans in theWashington, D.C./Northern Virginia market, and was all but forced to merge with NCNB to form NationsBank. This created the largest bank in the Southeast, with assets of $118 billion. The merger allowed NCNB/NationsBank to enterTennessee andMaryland for the first time. At one stroke, it became a major player inGeorgia andVirginia, where it previously had a minimal presence.[citation needed]
In July 1992, NationsBank agreed to invest $200 million inMaryland National Corporation for a 16 percent nonvoting stake and an option to buy the whole company, which it subsequently executed in February 1993.[citation needed]
In March 1993, NationsBank acquired Chicago Research and Trading Group, expanding into derivatives and dramatically increasing foreign exchange trading.[citation needed]
In September 1995, NationsBank announced the acquisition ofBank South Corp for $1.6 billion in stock. The deal significantly increased NationsBank's already large presence in Atlanta.[4]
In 1996, NationsBank acquiredSt. Louis–basedBoatmen's Bancshares for $9.6 billion. The combined bank became the largest in the American South, with assets of $225 billion, and 2,600 branches stretching from North Carolina to New Mexico.[citation needed]
The following year, NationsBank acquiredFlorida's largest bank,Jacksonville-basedBarnett Bank, for $15.5 billion, increasing the company's total assets to $284 billion.[citation needed]
In June 1997, NationsBank acquiredMontgomery Securities in a $1.2 billion transaction. Montgomery was integrated into the firm's existing broker-dealer,NationsBanc Capital Markets, and the combined subsidiary was renamedNationsBanc Montgomery Securities.[5]
In 1998, it acquiredBankAmerica Corporation ofSan Francisco in what was the largest bank merger in American history at the time. Although NationsBank was the nominal survivor, the merged bank took the better-known Bank of America name starting in July 1999, and operates under Bank of America's charter. However, to this day it is headquartered in Charlotte at what is nowBank of America Corporate Center, and retains NCNB/NationsBank's pre-1998 stock price history. With this merger, all of NationsBank's holdings, including some of the tallest buildings in the nation (includingBank of America Plaza inAtlanta and the Bank of America Corporate Center) took Bank of America's name. McColl became chairman and CEO of the merged company with Bank of America'sDavid Coulter as president, but Coulter was quickly forced out in favor of NationsBank executiveKen Lewis.[6] In 2001, McColl handed his remaining posts to Lewis, who began his career at NCNB in 1969. Lewis stepped down in 2009 and was replaced byBrian Moynihan—marking the first time that the bank had not been led by someone with roots in NCNB/NationsBank.[citation needed]
BankAmerica's broker-dealer,BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, was integrated intoNationsBanc Montgomery Securities, and the combined subsidiary was renamedBanc of America Securities, headquartered in Charlotte.[7]
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