First Boston
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| Corporation | |
| Industry | Investment services |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Products |
Financial Services Investment Banking |
First Boston Corporation was a New York-based, bulge bracket, investment bank, founded in 1932 and acquired by Credit Suisse in 1990. Together with its sister investment banks, it was referred to as CS First Boston after 1993 and part of Credit Suisse First Boston after 1996. The First Boston part of the name was phased out by 2006.
First Boston Corporation was created in 1932 as the investment banking arm of the First National Bank of Boston. It became an independent firm after passage of the Glass–Steagall Act, which required commercial banks to divest securities businesses in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash. First National Bank of Boston continued as a commercial bank, ultimately becoming part of Bank of America. The young First Boston investment bank was cobbled together from the investment banking arms of major commercial banks. For example, several key members of Chase Harris Forbes Corporation, the securities affiliate of Chase National Bank, joined the new investment bank in 1934.
In 1946, Mellon Securities Corporation, the former investment banking arm of Mellon Bank, merged into the First Boston Corporation. Mellon's franchise with industrial and governmental clients led to some major deals: initial public debt offerings for the World Bank and Hydro-Québec, and a share offering for Gulf Oil Corporation in 1948 (the largest IPO to date).
By 1947, the First Boston Corporation surpassed $1 billion in new capital issues, and in 1959 it reintroduced the credit of Japan to the American markets with the first offerings by its government since 1930.
As of 1970, First Boston was considered to be part of the bulge bracket along with Morgan Stanley, Dillon Read and Kuhn Loeb.
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