1966: Republic National Bank of New York is founded by Edmond Safra. Safra had previously opened the Trade Development Bank in Geneva, Switzerland, which acquired a 36% stake in Republic. 1973: Republic New York Corporation was established as a one-bank holding company for Republic National Bank. 1974: Acquires Kings Lafayette Bank, which has 18 branches. 1975: Acquires American Swiss Credit Company, Ltd., formerly part of Franklin National Bank. 1977: Opens Republic Factors Corporation. 1978: Opens Republic International Bank of New York in Miami, Florida. 1980: Republic is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Opens Republic International Bank of New York in Los Angeles, California. 1983: Edmond Safra sells Trade Development Bank to American Express. Several years later, American Express tries to smear Safra, after he attempts to open a competing business. 1987: Acquires The Williamsburg Savings Bank. 1988: Edmond Safra organizes Safra Holdings S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland, which is 49% owned by Republic. 1990: Acquires Manhattan Savings Bank. 1992: Establishes Republic New York Securities Corporation. 1993: Acquires SafraCorp California and renames it Republic Bank California N.A. Acquires Bank Leumi of Canada. Acquires Mase Westpac Limited, which is a member of the London Gold Fixing. Acquires Citibank's World Banknote Services operations. 1995: Acquires Crossland Federal Savings Bank 1999: HSBC acquires Republic New York for US$9.8-billion. 2001: Republic pleads guilty to fraud and agrees to restitution of $606 million in connection with cheating Japanese customers by its Republic New York Securities Corporation subsidiary. Their partner at the time Martin Armstrong was convicted and spent 11 years in prison. 2015: Safra Group purchased Chiquita Brands International
Safra Republic Holdings issued $250 million of 1,000 year bonds in 1997, at a time when there were "a number of 100-year bond issues by corporations."
Republic National Bank of New York
Republic National Bank of New York operated without the "Of New York" part of its full name, even though the name "Republic National Bank of" had at times been used elsewhere. When Republic was taken over by HSBC Bank USA, which already had acquired the former Marine Midland Bank, the combination retained what Republic had previously achieved: "the third-biggest retail branch network in the New York region." Two competitive parts of their operation were "low-cost checking and free automated teller machine services."
