Hollandsche Bank-Unie
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Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU) is a second-tier domestic bank in the Netherlands, but one with a fascinating international history. It is a subsidiary of ABN AMRO.
[edit] History
On March 28, 1914, the Rotterdamsche Bank, together with the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) and several smaller firms, established the Hollandsche Bank voor Zuid-Amerika (Holland Bank for South-America). The bank opened in Buenos Aires under the name Banco Holandés de la América del Sud (Banco Holandés). In 1916 a second branch was opened in Rio de Janeiro, and after World War I in 1919 a branch in São Paulo followed. By 1922, the Hollandsche Bank voor Zuid-Amerika was running branches in Genoa, Hamburg, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Santiago, São Paulo and Valparaíso.
In 1918 a similar bank for the West-Indies followed. The Hollandsche Bank voor West-Indië was established with head office in Amsterdam to operate branches in Willemstad, Curaçao. Again the main shareholders were the Rotterdamsche Bank and the NHM. Smaller shareholders were the Royal West India Mail/Royal Netherlands Steamship Company and the subsidiary of Shell which ran Curaçao's refinery, as well as the Bank of Suriname. In 1920 it was the first European bank to open a branch in Caracas.
A year after the Hollandsche Bank voor West-Indië was founded, in 1919, the Rotterdamsche Bank and Hollandsche Bank voor Zuid-Amerika formed the Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee. It opened branches in Genoa, Barcelona, Marseilles, Constantinople, and later Tel Aviv.
The Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU) was established in 1933 out of a merger between the Hollandsche Bank voor Zuid-Amerika and the Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee. It acquired the Hollandsche Bank voor West-Indië in 1935. The HBU made further acquisitions, G. von Dantzig & co in 1939, and the 's Gravenhaagsche Creditvereeniging en Depositkas in 1941. Further branches were established in Uruguay (1952) and Beirut (1954), so that by 1957, the HBU maintained branches in the Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Suriname. The branch network was expanded further into Ecuador, and in 1965 into Paraguay. After the 6-Day War in 1967 the branches in Israel were closed.
The Algemene Bank Nederland acquired the HBU in 1968, but the overseas branches continues to operate under the HBU name. ABN decided to merge all its activities on the Netherlands Antilles under the name Antilliaanse Bank Unie. This meant a merger of the HBU's Netherlands Antilles branches with Aruba Commercial Bank (est. 1949), Bonaire Commercial Bank (est. 1962), and Edwards, Henriques & Co. (est. 1856). In 1972 all the HBU's overseas branches were absorbed by ABN. The end of HBU's international history is in 2001 when ABN AMRO sold the Ecuadorian operation inherited from the HBU to Banco del Pichincha (est. 1906).
