Union Bank Of California
California, the Golden State of America, is home to a colossal chest of gold treasures – the rock of the Golden Gates Bridge, the cradle of the Gold Rush and the seat of a myriad of golden glittering Hollywood stars. In a golden land like this, where do people entrust their caches and investment?
The answer is the Union Bank of California, a one hundred forty three year old bank serving the bay areas with quality banking service and utmost customer pampering. The Union Bank of California today is one of the twenty five biggest banking institutions in America boasting of more three hundred branches statewide and two global bank centers. The company also operates in Oregon, Washington and 6 other states.
Union Bank of California is an epitome of a bank that combines the finest craft in personal and business banking. The bank caters to retailers, consumers, small businesses, mid-size entrepreneurs, corporate moguls, real estate, correspondents, institutional leaders and as well as trade finance. In the shelves are services for private banking, trust services, financial management, global custody and insurance products and services. With subsidiary in investment management through High Mark Capital, Union Bank is able to reach customers through varied media, energy, entertainment, communications, retailing, special industries and utilities.
With headquarters in San Francisco bay area, Union Bank of California is a proud and equal opportunity employer of over 10,000 employees. It’s the first bank in the Golden State to operate seven days straight since 1990. The company is now operated by the UnionBanCal Corporation, partly owned by Japanese entity The Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ. The company takes pride of a 600-ATM site network spread nationwide, with global accessibility through Cirrus and Star SM systems.
The history of the Union Bank California is close to that of the Golden Gates’ statehood. It all started on the 5th of July in the year 1864, the day when California turned to a bank called The Bank of California, written to be the region’s very first commercial bank to be incorporated in the West. California during those days was still unstable. And with the gold rush still fresh, the bank was able to manage.
Half way across the world, a bank also started. In 1880, a Japanese firm was established by the name of Yokohama Specie Bank. At the start of the 20th century, back in the Golden State, an LA company, the Kaspare Cohn Commercial & Savings Bank was founded. This LA bank would later become the Union Bank & Trust Company in the year 1918.
67 years after its inception, the Yokohama Specie Bank changed its name to The Bank of Tokyo. The company flourished and expanded internationally, landing a branch in the San Francisco bay area with the establishment of The Bank of Tokyo California.
In 1958, the Union Bank & Trust Company abbreviated its corporate identity and became known as Union Bank. Nine years later, a singular bank-holding company was born and this company was the Union Bancorp. The year 1979 saw the purchase of Union Bancorp by the Standard Chartered PLC in London. Four years prior to that, The Bank of Tokyo California bought a San Diego company called the Southern California First National Bank which created the California First Bank.
In the 80s, California First Bank purchased the Union Bank. At that same time, The Mitsubishi Bank acquired The Bank of California. In 1996, the San Francisco-based The Bank of California joined with the Union Bancorp and became the UnionBanCal Corporation. Today, Union Bank conducts the most important banking transactions that steer the economy of the Golden State.