Hambros Bank
 |
|
| Public | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Société Générale |
| Founded | 1839 |
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
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Key people
|
Chips Keswick (Chairman) |
Hambros Bank was a British bank based in London. The Hambros bank was a specialist in Anglo-Scandinavian business with expertise in trade finance and investment banking, and was the sole banker to the Scandinavian kingdoms for many years. The Bank was sold in 1998, and today survives only in the name of the private banking division of the French group Société Générale, which is called SG Hambros Bank Ltd and direct continuation Hambro family related merchant banking and investment activities, such as J.O Hambro Capital Management, Rupert Hambro & Partners and EC Hambro Rabben and Partners.
Hambros was founded by the Danish merchant and banker Carl Joachim Hambro in London in 1839 as C. J. Hambro & Son. During the 1850s he was responsible for arranging various British Government loan stock issues enabling the bank to prosper.
After merging with the British Bank of Northern Commerce (owned by and a number of Scandinavian savings banks) in 1921 the name was changed to Hambros Bank, and the firm expanded. As a result, in 1926 a bigger head office was constructed at 41 Bishopsgate, where the bank remained until 1988. The 1930 depression affected the bank's international business and it concentrated on domestic lending and Scandinavia. During World War II, Sir Charles Hambro raised finance for the Norwegian exiled government and was also the head of the Special Operations Executive.
After World War II, Hambros became also known as the 'diamond bank' with its thriving activity in financing the diamond industry and its trade. Hambros was one of the top three banks in the Euromarket by the mid-1960s. In 1967 the private banking and trust operations were expanded offshore and new offices were opened in Jersey and Guernsey to take advantage of the offshore tax benefits. The 1970s marked Hambros' expansion into new areas of financial services - in particular, asset management, investment management for third parties, investment funds and insurance. An offshore private banking and trust operation was established in 1981 in Gibraltar to complement the offices in London, Jersey and Guernsey.
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