150 years: First Hawaiian bank
Advertiser Staff
It's the kind of story that would have made a great historical novel.
In 1846, upstate New York native Charles Reed Bishop arrives in Hawai'i, where he eventually marries a Hawaiian princess and builds the Bishop Museum in her memory.
He serves as a driving force behind Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop's will establishing the Kamehameha Schools for Native Hawaiian children and establishes Hawai'i's first bank in 1858.
The bank would later become First Hawaiian Bank, now the state's largest financial institution and the second oldest bank west of the Rockies.
"I really believe that the core values that he established in this institution remain," said Donald Horner, First Hawaiian's president and chief executive officer.
Next year, the bank will mark the 150th anniversary of its founding by celebrating Bishop's life and legacy.
The bank has produced a 30-minute documentary about Bishop, which will air Jan. 17 on KHON 2 and be available at local libraries. Limited quantities will also be given out at First Hawaiian branches.
First Hawaiian also will make contributions in Bishop's honor to help build community centers at Kaumakapili Church and Kawaiaha'o Church.
In many ways, the values that Bishop instilled have served as a driving force in First Hawaiian's history of growth.
From its roots in a basement of a Downtown office building, the company Bishop founded would grow into a regional banking power.
In recent years, First Hawaiian has expanded beyond its Hawai'i base by acquiring branches and banks on the West Coast, Nevada, Idaho and New Mexico.
In 1998, First Hawaiian merged with San Francisco-based Bank of the West in a deal valued at $1 billion. Three years later, BNP Paribas, which owned 45 percent of BancWest, acquired the rest of the company in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.
Today, the bank has assets of more than $12 billion and earns more than $200 million a year.
"That's quite a legacy," said Horner.
"I really want to pass along that legacy to the next generation of managers and employees to perpetuate his core values."
• • •
|
BANK’S MILESTONES 1858: Charles Reed Bishop, who came to Hawai'i from upstate New York a decade earlier, and partner, William A. Aldrich, open Bishop & Co., which would later become First Hawaiian Bank. The bank operates from a basement room in "Makee & Anthon's Building" on Ka'ahumanu Street. On the day Bishop & Co. opened, the company took in $4,784.25 in deposits. 1895: Samuel M. Damon buys Bishop & Co. 1972: First ATMs installed. 1996: First Hawaiian Center, Hawai'i's tallest building at 428 feet, 11 inches, opens. MOMENTS IN HISTORY 1800s 1878: Bishop & Co. moves from its basement offices to a two-story building at the corner of Merchant and Ka'ahumanu streets. 1895: Samuel M. Damon buys Bishop & Co. 1910-1929 1910: First Neighbor Island branch opens, in Hilo. Bank assets total $2.3 million. 1911: The bank opens its first branch on Kaua'i, in Waimea. 1919: Bank incorporates as Bank of Bishop & Co. Ltd. 1924: Samuel Damon dies. 1925: A new 75,000-square-foot headquarters named after Samuel Damon opens at the corner of King and Bishop streets. The bank lists $22 million in assets and a half-dozen branches. 1929: Bank of Bishop merges with First National Bank of Hawaii, First American Savings Bank, Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks, Baldwin Bank of Maui. The new bank becomes Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu with assets of more than $30 million. 1956-1976 1956: The bank changes its name to Bishop National Bank of Hawaii. 1958: The company celebrates its 100th anniversary. 1960: The bank changes its name to First National Bank of Hawaii. Deposits total $267 million. 1962: Company builds Hawai'i's first "skyscraper" — an 18-story, $5 million structure — on the same block as the Damon building. The company has assets of $340 million, 35 branches and 728 employees. 1963: First computers are installed. 1966: Bank acquires Cooke Trust Co. Ltd. 1969: The company changes its name to First Hawaiian Bank. 1970: Deposits exceed $500 million. Future CEO Walter Dods Jr., then head of advertising, launches new slogan "The Bank that Says Yes" — a catch phrase that is still used today. 1975: First Hawaiian acquires former 11-branch Hawaii Thrift & Loan. It later becomes First Hawaiian Creditcorp. 1976: Deposits exceed $1 billion. 1982-1999 1982: Deposits exceed $2 billion. 1991: First Hawaiian acquires First Interstate Bank of Hawaii and its 20 branches and $858 million in assets. 1993: First Hawaiian acquires century-old Pioneer Federal Savings Bank, which has 19 branches and $600 million in assets. 1994: Company razes its high-rise office building to make way for its new $175 million headquarters, First Hawaiian Center. 1995: First Hawaiian Dealer Center opens in Irvine, Calif., handling automobile loans, the bank's first Mainland expansion. 1996: First Hawaiian acquires 31 branches in Oregon, Washington and Idaho from U.S. Bancorp. A new subsidiary, Pacific One Bank, is created from scratch and chartered in Oregon. 1996: First Hawaiian acquires ANB Financial Corp. (four branches, $71 million assets), owner of American National Bank in central Washington state. American National's branches eventually became part of Pacific One Bank. 1997: Pioneer Federal merges into First Hawaiian Bank. 1998: First Hawaiian merges with San-Francisco-based Bank of the West, which is controlled by Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP Paribas), in a deal valued at $1 billion. The surviving company, First Hawaiian Inc., is renamed BancWest Corp. 1999: BancWest completes $180 million buyout of SierraWest Bancorp, parent of SierraWest Bank, a $900-million-in-assets financial institution that operates 20 branches in Northern California and Nevada. 2001-2008 2001: BancWest expands into New Mexico and increases its presence in Nevada by acquiring 30 former First Security locations. 2001: BNP Paribas purchases for $2.5 billion the 55 percent of BancWest stock it did not already own. BancWest becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas and its shares are no longer publicly traded. 2002: BancWest expands into Southern California with the acquisition of United California Bank from UFJ Bank Ltd. of Japan. United California Bank, the largest Los Angeles-based bank, had assets of $10.5 billion and 115 branches throughout the state. 2003: First Hawaiian becomes Hawai'i's largest bank in terms of assets. A year later, the bank is No. 1 in deposits as well. 2005: Walter Dods retires as BancWest's chief executive officer, and is replaced by Don McGrath. Dods also steps down as First Hawaiian CEO and is replaced by Don Horner. 2007: First Hawaiian's assets and deposits grow to $12.5 billion and $9 billion respectively. 2008: FHB will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Source: First Hawaiian Bank
|
Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.
• • •
• • •
