CoreStates
Encyclopedia
CoreStates Financial Corporation was a United States bank
holding company
in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, metropolitan area.
The bank, previously known as PNB (Philadelphia National Bank), was renamed in the mid-1980s after a series of mergers. After being acquired by First Union Corporation
, which later merged with Wachovia National Bank
, CoreStates Financial Corporation became a part of Wells Fargo
in 2008 due to the Wachovia
-Wells Fargo
merger.
was the bank's first president. Later, the bank became known as Philadelphia National Bank, or PNB.
During the early years of the United States, Philadelphia developed as the banking center of the country. The First Bank of the United States
chartered in 1791, was based in the city until its charter expired in 1811 and was purchased by Stephen Girard
and then renamed Girard Bank
for its founder. The Second Bank of the United States
was directed for most of the period 1816 to 1836 by Nicholas Biddle
, the nation's first chief banker and scion of the city's most iconic family.
The Philadelphia National Bank was neither the oldest nor the most aggressive of the big banks headquartered in the nation's birthplace for most of the city's history; that title went to the First Pennsylvania Bank, the "Pennsy Company", founded a generation earlier in 1784 and led in the twentieth century by an increasingly ambitious and risk-taking board of directors. PNB, on the other hand, maintained a reputation for financial caution, civic responsibility, and, not coincidentally, social exclusiveness. On occasion, the bank made headlines for quiet innovations, such as when during the late 1960s it led all the nation's banks in ending the practice of "redlining" poorer neighborhoods so that personal and small business loans could not be extended to residents of poorer city district, or when, during the middle 1970s, the bank helped universalize ATM banking by building one of the nation's first and largest network of banking machines, known by their acronym, "MAC", for Money Access Center.
By the dawn of the new age of banking in the late 1970s and 1980s, when lending grew highly competitive and banks began vying for power and influence by buying each other, PNB was well positioned to compete. It maintained offices in all of the major financial capitals of the world with headquarters of its subsidiary, Philadelphia International Bank (PIB), in London
and New York City
. The bank was particularly aggressive in the then-developing Middle East oil-rich states. The real estate bust of the late 1970s, accompanied by high interest rates and rates of foreclosure, did not hurt PNB to the extent it did its more highly exposed crosstown rival, First Pennsylvania, which never completely recovered from the temporary collapse of the real estate investment trust (REIT) industry and was eventually swallowed up by PNB in 1990.
, headquartered in the low-tax First State just south of the Pennsylvania border. After it acquired First Pennsylvania Bank in 1990, CoreStates/PNB spent $20 million to win naming rights for the new arena being built next to Philadelphia's Spectrum
that would subsequently be known as the "Center" associated with the bank holding company.
In the fall of 1995, CoreStates acquired another regional rival, Meridian Bancorp, at $3.2 billion their largest acquisition to date. George W. Strawbridge, Jr., a Campbell Soup Company
director, heir to the Strawbridge and Clothier department store fortune, and major shareholder in Meridian Bancorp, became director and largest individual shareholder in the Corestates Corporation, continuing an ongoing marriage between the bank and one of the region's most iconic companies, the Campbell Soup Company
, that had in the 1970s made G. Morris Dorrance, Jr., scion of the Campbell clan and prominent Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
, socialite, PNB's board chairman.
of Charlotte, North Carolina
, in 1998. The CoreStates-First Union merger, at $17 billion, was then the largest bank merger that had ever taken place in the United States. First Union later bought Wachovia National Bank in 2001 and the combined company took the Wachovia brand name.
Wachovia Bank, suffering losses during the financial crisis of 2008, was purchased by Wells Fargo
, an old and similarly fabled bank holding company headquartered originally in San Francisco, California
.
. It has long been known for the oversized bell on its uppermost floor that still tolls noon over the city's financial district, once centered at the foot of its building at the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets but now moved farther west among the office buildings lining West Market. First Pennsylvania Bank's twin Centre Square
office towers, with their iconic "Clothespin" by sculptor Claes Oldenburg
, shifted the center of that district west at its opening in 1976.
In 1976 and in association with the nation's Bicentennial, the bank opened a second major office complex on Independence Mall at Fifth and Market Streets, which became headquarters for its operations divisions. In keeping with the company's civic commitment to Philadelphia, the bank at the same time redesigned and rebuilt SEPTA's Fifth Street/Independence underground subway station on the Market-Frankford/Blue Line at the intersection's northeast corner, a station that subsequently won international design awards for its striking combination of colors, textures, and materials.
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, metropolitan area.
The bank, previously known as PNB (Philadelphia National Bank), was renamed in the mid-1980s after a series of mergers. After being acquired by First Union Corporation
First Union Corporation
First Union Corporation was a banking company providing commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, investment banking , investment advisory, home equity lending,...
, which later merged with Wachovia National Bank
Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets...
, CoreStates Financial Corporation became a part of Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
in 2008 due to the Wachovia
Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets...
-Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
merger.
Philadelphia National Bank
The bank was founded in Philadelphia on August 8, 1803, as The Philadelphia Bank. George ClymerGeorge Clymer
George Clymer was an American politician and founding father. He was one of the first Patriots to advocate complete independence from Britain. As a Pennsylvania representative, Clymer was, along with five others, a signatory of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution...
was the bank's first president. Later, the bank became known as Philadelphia National Bank, or PNB.
During the early years of the United States, Philadelphia developed as the banking center of the country. The First Bank of the United States
First Bank of the United States
The First Bank of the United States is a National Historic Landmark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania within Independence National Historical Park.-Banking History:...
chartered in 1791, was based in the city until its charter expired in 1811 and was purchased by Stephen Girard
Stephen Girard
Stephen Girard was a French-born, naturalized American, philanthropist and banker. He personally saved the U.S. government from financial collapse during the War of 1812, and became one of the wealthiest men in America, estimated to have been the fourth richest American of all time, based on the...
and then renamed Girard Bank
Girard Bank
Girard Bank was a Philadelphia based bank, founded by Stephen Girard in 1811. The bank was acquired by Mellon Bank in 1983 and then two decades later by Citizens Bank....
for its founder. The Second Bank of the United States
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
was directed for most of the period 1816 to 1836 by Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle may refer to:* Nicholas Biddle , officer in the American Continental Navy* Nicholas Biddle , American banker and President of the Second Bank of the United States...
, the nation's first chief banker and scion of the city's most iconic family.
The Philadelphia National Bank was neither the oldest nor the most aggressive of the big banks headquartered in the nation's birthplace for most of the city's history; that title went to the First Pennsylvania Bank, the "Pennsy Company", founded a generation earlier in 1784 and led in the twentieth century by an increasingly ambitious and risk-taking board of directors. PNB, on the other hand, maintained a reputation for financial caution, civic responsibility, and, not coincidentally, social exclusiveness. On occasion, the bank made headlines for quiet innovations, such as when during the late 1960s it led all the nation's banks in ending the practice of "redlining" poorer neighborhoods so that personal and small business loans could not be extended to residents of poorer city district, or when, during the middle 1970s, the bank helped universalize ATM banking by building one of the nation's first and largest network of banking machines, known by their acronym, "MAC", for Money Access Center.
By the dawn of the new age of banking in the late 1970s and 1980s, when lending grew highly competitive and banks began vying for power and influence by buying each other, PNB was well positioned to compete. It maintained offices in all of the major financial capitals of the world with headquarters of its subsidiary, Philadelphia International Bank (PIB), in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The bank was particularly aggressive in the then-developing Middle East oil-rich states. The real estate bust of the late 1970s, accompanied by high interest rates and rates of foreclosure, did not hurt PNB to the extent it did its more highly exposed crosstown rival, First Pennsylvania, which never completely recovered from the temporary collapse of the real estate investment trust (REIT) industry and was eventually swallowed up by PNB in 1990.
Creation of CoreStates
PNB's first merger involved Hamilton Bank of central Pennsylvania; later, in the mid-1980s, it would take control of New Jersey National Bank of Trenton, New Jersey. Corestates Financial Corporation evolved out of the merger of PNB with Hamilton. Meanwhile, Corestates Bank of Delaware would focus on lending to the many corporations, including chemical giant DuPontDuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, headquartered in the low-tax First State just south of the Pennsylvania border. After it acquired First Pennsylvania Bank in 1990, CoreStates/PNB spent $20 million to win naming rights for the new arena being built next to Philadelphia's Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
that would subsequently be known as the "Center" associated with the bank holding company.
In the fall of 1995, CoreStates acquired another regional rival, Meridian Bancorp, at $3.2 billion their largest acquisition to date. George W. Strawbridge, Jr., a Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
director, heir to the Strawbridge and Clothier department store fortune, and major shareholder in Meridian Bancorp, became director and largest individual shareholder in the Corestates Corporation, continuing an ongoing marriage between the bank and one of the region's most iconic companies, the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
, that had in the 1970s made G. Morris Dorrance, Jr., scion of the Campbell clan and prominent Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Gladwyne is a suburban community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States along the Main Line. The population was 4,050 at the 2000 census...
, socialite, PNB's board chairman.
Acquisition by First Union
In the rash of regional bank takeovers that occurred near the end of the second millennium, CoreStates was then acquired by First Union CorporationFirst Union Corporation
First Union Corporation was a banking company providing commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, investment banking , investment advisory, home equity lending,...
of Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, in 1998. The CoreStates-First Union merger, at $17 billion, was then the largest bank merger that had ever taken place in the United States. First Union later bought Wachovia National Bank in 2001 and the combined company took the Wachovia brand name.
Wachovia Bank, suffering losses during the financial crisis of 2008, was purchased by Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
, an old and similarly fabled bank holding company headquartered originally in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Headquarters building
The company's original headquarters building is located at the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets in Center City, Philadelphia, and is now known as One South BroadOne South Broad
One South Broad, also known as the Lincoln-Liberty Building or PNB Building, is a 28-story office tower in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The art deco tower, designed by architect John Torrey Windrim as an annex for Wanamaker's department store, was completed in 1932...
. It has long been known for the oversized bell on its uppermost floor that still tolls noon over the city's financial district, once centered at the foot of its building at the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets but now moved farther west among the office buildings lining West Market. First Pennsylvania Bank's twin Centre Square
Centre Square
Centre Square is an office complex located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The complex consists of two high-rise towers: the Centre Square I and the Centre Square II. The concrete towers are the twenty-fourth and fifteenth tallest buildings in Philadelphia,...
office towers, with their iconic "Clothespin" by sculptor Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
, shifted the center of that district west at its opening in 1976.
In 1976 and in association with the nation's Bicentennial, the bank opened a second major office complex on Independence Mall at Fifth and Market Streets, which became headquarters for its operations divisions. In keeping with the company's civic commitment to Philadelphia, the bank at the same time redesigned and rebuilt SEPTA's Fifth Street/Independence underground subway station on the Market-Frankford/Blue Line at the intersection's northeast corner, a station that subsequently won international design awards for its striking combination of colors, textures, and materials.