The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American banking and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The bank offers investment management, investment services, and wealth management services.[2] BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007. It is the world's largest custodian bank and securities services company,[3][4][5] with $1.8trillion in assets under management and $45.7trillion in assets under custody as of 2023.[6] It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.
Through its Bank of New York predecessor, it is the oldest bank in the United States and the first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is regarded as being among the oldest banks in the world, having been established in June 1784 by a group that included American Founding FatherAlexander Hamilton.[7] T. Mellon and Sons Bank, was founded in Pittsburgh in 1869 by Thomas Mellon and his sons Richard and Andrew, the latter of whom later became Secretary of the US Treasury.[8] The bank replaced its name with Mellon National Bank in 1902.[8]
History
Bank of New York
The Walton Mansion housed the Bank of New York from 1784 to 1787.
The first bank in the U.S. was the Bank of North America in Philadelphia, which was chartered by the Continental Congress in 1781; Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were among its founding shareholders.[7] In February 1784, The Massachusetts Bank in Boston was chartered.[7]
The shipping industry in New York City chafed under the lack of a bank, and investors envied the 14% dividends that Bank of North America paid, and months of local discussion culminated in a June 1784 meeting at a coffee house on St. George's Square which led to the formation of the Bank of New York company.[citation needed] The bank operated without a charter for seven years.[9] The initial plan was to capitalize the company with $750,000, a third in cash and the rest in mortgages, but after this was disputed the first offering was to capitalize it with $500,000 in gold or silver. When the bank opened on June 9, 1784, the full $500,000 had not been raised; 723 shares had been sold, held by 192 people. Aaron Burr had three of them, and Hamilton had one and a half shares. The first president was Alexander McDougall and the Cashier was William Seton.[10][11][12][13]
The Bank of New York was the first company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange when it first opened in 1792.[15] In 1796, the bank moved to a location at the corner of Wall Street and William Street, which would later become 48 Wall Street.[10][16]
The bank had a monopoly on banking services in the city until the Bank of the Manhattan Company was founded by Aaron Burr in 1799; the Bank of New York and Hamilton vigorously opposed its founding.[10]
During the 19th century, the bank was known for its conservative lending practices that allowed it to weather financial crises. It was involved in the funding of the Morris and Erie canals, and steamboat companies.[17][18] The bank helped finance both the War of 1812 and the Union Army during the American Civil War.[19][20] Following the Civil War, the bank loaned money to many major infrastructure projects, including utilities, railroads, and the New York City Subway.[17]
Through the early 20th century, the Bank of New York continued to expand and prosper.[18][20] In July 1922, the bank merged with the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company.[21] The bank continued to profit and pay dividends throughout the Great Depression, and its total deposits increased during the decade.[18][20] In 1948, the bank again merged, this time with the Fifth Avenue Bank, which was followed by a merger in 1966 with the Empire Trust Company.[17][20] The bank's holding company was created in 1969.[17]
Older Bank of New York logo
In 1988, the Bank of New York merged with Irving Bank Corporation after a year-long takeover bid by Bank of New York.[22] Irving had been headquartered at 1 Wall Street and after the merger, this became the headquarters of the Bank of New York on July 20, 1988.[23][24][25]
From 1993 to 1998, the bank made 33 acquisitions, including acquiring JP Morgan's Global Custody Business in 1995.[20] Ivy Asset Management was acquired in 2000.
In October 2002, Bank of New York entered into an alliance with ING to gain a stronger footing in Eastern European markets.[26]
In 2003, Bank of New York acquired Pershing LLC, the stock clearing unit of Credit Suisse First Boston for $2 Billion.[20][27] The Pershing acquisition made BNY the nation’s largest clearing firm for stock trades.[28]
In 2005, the bank paid a $14 million settlement to the Russian government concerning the money laundering activities of a rogue employee in the 1990s.[29][30] This scandal has been sometimes called Russiagate.[31]
In 2006, the Bank of New York traded its retail banking and regional middle-market businesses for J.P. Morgan Chase's corporate trust assets. The deal signaled the bank's exit from retail banking.[32]
In 1902, T. Mellon & Sons' name was changed to the Mellon National Bank.[34] In 1946, the firm merged with the Union Trust Company, a business founded by Andrew Mellon in 1899, and other affiliated financial firms. The newly formed organization was named the Mellon National Bank and Trust Company, and was Pittsburgh's first US$1 billion bank.[36]
The bank formed the first dedicated family office in the United States in 1971.[37] A reorganization in 1972 led to the bank's name changing to Mellon Bank, N.A. and the formation of a holding company, Mellon National Corporation.[33][34]
Mellon Bank acquired multiple banks and financial institutions in Pennsylvania during the 1980s and 1990s.[38] In 1992, Mellon acquired 54 branch offices of Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, the first savings bank in the United States, founded in 1819.[39]
In 1993, Mellon acquired The Boston Company from American Express and AFCO Credit Corporation from The Continental Corporation. The following year, Mellon merged with the Dreyfus Corporation, bringing its mutual funds under its umbrella.[34] In 1999, Mellon Bank Corporation became Mellon Financial Corporation. Two years later, it exited the retail banking business by selling its assets and retail bank branches to Citizens Financial Group.[34]
Merger
On December 4, 2006, the Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation announced they would merge.[40] The merger created the world's largest securities servicing company and one of the largest asset management firms by combining Mellon's wealth-management business and the Bank of New York's asset-servicing and short-term-lending specialties.[3][40] The companies anticipated saving about $700 million in costs and cutting around 3,900 jobs, mostly by attrition.[3]
The deal was valued at $16.5 billion and under its terms, the Bank of New York's shareholders received 0.9434 shares in the new company for each share of the Bank of New York that they owned, while Mellon Financial shareholders received 1 share in the new company for each Mellon share they owned.[19] The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial entered into mutual stock option agreements for 19.9 percent of the issuer's outstanding common stock.[40] The merger was finalized on July 1, 2007.[5] The company's principal office of business was located at the One Wall Street office previously held by the Bank of New York.[4] The full name of the company became The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., with the BNY Mellon brand name being used for most lines of business.[4][5]
Post-merger history
In October 2008, the U.S. Treasury named BNY Mellon the master custodian of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2010. BNY Mellon won the assignment, which included handling accounting and record-keeping for the program, through a bidding process.[41] In November 2008, the company announced that it would lay-off 1,800 employees, or 4 percent of its global workforce, due to the financial crisis.[42] According to the results of a February 2009 stress test conducted by federal regulators, BNY Mellon was one of only three banks that could withstand a worsening economic situation.[43] The company received $3 billion from TARP, which it paid back in full in June 2009, along with US$136 million to buy back warrants from the Treasury in August 2009.[44][45]
By 2013, the company's capital had steadily risen from the financial crisis. In the results of the Federal Reserve's Dodd-Frank stress test in 2013, the bank was least affected by hypothetical extreme economic scenarios among banks tested.[50] It was also a top performer on the same test in 2014.[51]
BNY Mellon began a marketing campaign in 2013 to increase awareness of the company that included a new slogan and logo.[52][53]
In 2013, the bank started building a new IT system called NEXEN.[54][55] NEXEN uses open source technology and includes components such as an API store, data analytics, and a cloud computing environment.[56][57]
In May 2014, BNY Mellon sold its 1 Wall Street headquarters,[58] and in 2015, moved into leased space at Brookfield Place.[59] In June 2014, the company combined its global markets, global collateral services and prime services to create the new Markets Group,[60] also known as BNY Markets Mellon.[61] The company expanded its Hong Kong office in October 2014 as part of the company's plans to grow its wealth management business.[62]
Between 2014 and 2016, BNY Mellon opened innovation centers focused on emerging technologies, big data, digital and cloud-based projects, with the first opening in Silicon Valley.[63][64][65]
In September 2017, BNY Mellon announced that it agreed to sell CenterSquare Investment Management to its management team and the private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.[66]
In November 2017, BNY Mellon performed the United States banking industry's first real-time payment transaction using a system set up by The Clearing House. The transaction moved a nominal amount between accounts at BNY Mellon and U.S. Bancorp in three seconds, inaugurating the first new payment clearance and settlement system for the US in over 40 years.[67]
In January 2018, BNY Mellon announced that it was again moving its headquarters location, less than four years after its prior move. The headquarters location was announced as 240 Greenwich Street, a renaming of the already BNY Mellon-owned 101 Barclay Street office building in Tribeca, New York City.[68][69] BNY Mellon had owned the office building for over 30 years, with control of the location obtained via 99-year ground lease. The same year, the company purchased the location from the city for $352 million.[70]
In February 2020, Mellon announced that it has successfully onboarded Liontrust Asset Management to its new Investment Operations platform.[71]
In early 2023, BNY Mellon’s Pershing unit announced the addition of real-time payments to its investor portal.[72] In June 2023, BNY Mellon's Pershing X launched wealth management platform Wove.[73] In July 2023, BNY Mellon became an early adopter of Federal Reserve’s instant payment rail, FedNow.[74]
Operations
BNY Mellon operates in 35 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific.[75][76] The company employed 53,400 people As of December 2023[update].[1] In October 2015, the group's American and global headquarters relocated to 225 Liberty Street, as the former 1 Wall Street building was sold in 2014.[59] In July 2018, the company changed its headquarters again, this time to its existing 240 Greenwich Street location in New York (previously addressed 101 Barclay St).[77] The group's EMEA headquarters are located in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters are located in Hong Kong.[78][79]
Business
The bank's primary functions are managing and servicing the investments of institutions and high-net-worth individuals.[15] Its two primary businesses are Investment Services and Investment Management.[80][81] The bank's clients include 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies.[82] The company also serves 77 percent of the top 100 endowments, 87 percent of the top 1,000 pension and employee benefit funds, 51 percent of the top 200 life and health insurance companies and 50 percent of the top 50 universities.[83]
The company's subsidiary Pershing LLC handles securities services, including execution, settlement, and clearing. It also provides back office support to financial advisors.[85][86]
BNY Mellon's Wealth Management unit handles the private banking, estate planning, family office services, and investment servicing and management of high-net-worth individuals and families.[76][87] As of 2014, it ranks 7th among wealth management businesses in the United States. Starting in 2013, the unit began expansion efforts, including opening eight new banking offices, increasing salespeople, bankers, and portfolio managers on staff, and launching an awareness campaign for wealth management services through television ads.[87]
Leadership
Charles W. Scharf was appointed CEO in July 2017 and became Chairman after former CEO and chairman Gerald Hassell retired at the end of 2017.[88][89] Hassell had been Chairman and CEO since 2011, after serving as BNY Mellon's president from 2007 to 2012[89] and as the president of the Bank of New York from 1998 until its merger. Scharf stepped down in 2019 to become the new CEO of Wells Fargo. Thomas "Todd" Gibbons served as BNY Mellon's CEO from 2020 to 2022.[90] Robin Vince took over as the new CEO in 2022.[91]
Karen Peetz served as president (the bank's first female president) from 2013 to 2016, when she retired; the company did not appoint a new president when she retired.[92][93] Thomas Gibbons served as CFO between 2008 and 2017, when he also served as vice chairman.[94] In 2017, Gibbons was replaced as CFO by Michael P. Santomassimo.[95][96] BNY Mellon's Investment Management business is run by CEO Mitchell Harris,[97] and the company's Investment Services business was led by Brian Shea[98] until his retirement in December 2017.[99]
As of 2023, the company's board members were Linda Z. Cook, Joseph J. Echevarria, M. Amy Gilliland, Jeffrey A. Goldstein, K. Guru Gowrappan, Ralph Izzo, Sandie O’Connor, Elizabeth E. Robinson, Robin Vince, and Alfred W. “Al” Zollar.[100]
Robin A. Vince was appointed president and CEO in August 2022, succeeding Gibbons. On his appointment, he also became a member of the company’s board of directors.[101]
Company culture
In 2008, BNY Mellon formed a Board of Directors corporate social responsibility committee to set sustainability goals.[102][103] The company's corporate social responsibility activities include philanthropy, social finance in the communities the bank is located in, and protecting financial markets globally.[104]
The bank's philanthropic activities include financial donations and volunteerism.[105] The company matches employee volunteer hours and donations with financial contributions through its Community Partnership program.[106] Between 2010 and 2012, the company and its employees donated approximately $100 million to charity.[105] In 2014, the company worked with the Forbes Fund to create a platform that connects nonprofit organizations with private businesses to solve social challenges.[107]
The CDP, which measures corporate greenhouse gas emissions and disclosures, gave the company A ratings between 2013 and 2018.[108] As of 2014, the company has saved $48 million due to building efficiency; five of its buildings have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-EB) certification and 23 have interiors that are LEED certified.[103]
The company has business resource groups for employees that are focused on diversity and inclusion.[104][109] In 2009, Karen Peetz co-founded the BNY Mellon Women's Initiative Network (WIN), a resource group for female employees' professional development.[110] As of 2013, WIN had 50 chapters.[111] Other groups include PRISM for LGBT employees, IMPACT, which serves multicultural employees, HEART for employees with disabilities, GENEDGE, intergenerational resource group, and VETNET for veterans, military spouses, family members and their colleagues.[109][112][113] The bank has services for returning military, including a tool to help veterans align military skills and training with jobs at the company.[114] In 2014, it was recognized for its diversity practices by the National Business Inclusion Consortium, which named it Financial Services Diversity Corporation of the Year.[115]
In 2009, the company began an innovation program for employees to suggest ideas for large-scale projects and company improvement. Ideas from the initial pilot program generated approximately $165 million in pretax profit. The program results in an annual contest called "ACE" in which teams pitch their ideas.[116]
In 2022, BNY Mellon released The Pathway to Inclusive Investment, a report focused on the gender-investment gap. The research surveyed 8,000 respondents across 16 markets globally with combined assets of $60T. The report identified barriers to investment and ways that the industry could overcome them, indicating that if were women to invest at the same rate as men, this would unlock an estimated $3.2T of additional capital.[117]
Controversies and legal issues
Foreign currency exchange issues
In October 2011, the U.S. Justice Department and New York's attorney general filed civil lawsuits against the Bank of New York, alleging foreign currency fraud. The suits held that the bank deceived pension-fund clients by manipulating the prices assigned to them for foreign currency transactions. Allegedly, the bank selected the day's lowest rates for currency sales and highest rates for purchases, appropriating the difference as corporate profit. The scheme was said to have generated $2 billion for the bank, at the expense of millions of Americans' retirement funds, and to have transpired over more than a decade. Purportedly, the bank would offer secret pricing deals to clients who raised concerns, in order to avoid discovery. Bank of New York defended itself vigorously, maintaining the fraud accusations were "flat out wrong" and warning that as the bank employed 8,700 employees in New York, any damage to the bank would have negative repercussions for the state of New York.[118][119]
Finally, in March 2015, the company admitted to facts concerning the misrepresentation of foreign exchange pricing and execution. BNY Mellon's alleged misconduct in this area includes representing pricing as best rates to its clients, when in fact they were providing clients with bad prices while retaining larger margins. In addition to dismissing key executives, the company agreed to pay a total of US$714 million to settle related lawsuits.[120]
In May 2015, BNY Mellon agreed to pay $180 million to settle a foreign exchange-related lawsuit.[121]
In May 2016, multiple plaintiffs filed suit against the bank, alleging that the company had breached its fiduciary duty to ERISA plans that held American Depositary Receipts by overcharging retirement plans that invested in foreign securities.[122] In March 2017, the presiding judge declined to dismiss the suit. In December 2017, another lawsuit alleged that BNY Mellon manipulated foreign exchange rates was filed by Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund.[123] BNY Mellon agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle the 2016 lawsuit in December 2018.[124]
Personal data breach
In February 2008, BNY Mellon suffered a security breach resulting in the loss of personal information when backup tapes containing the personal records of 4.5 million individuals went missing. Social security numbers and bank account information were included in the records. The breach was not reported to the authorities until May 2008, and letters were sent to those affects on May 22, 2008.[125][126]
In August 2008, the number of affected individuals was raised to 12.5 million, 8 million more than originally thought.[127][128]
IT system outages
On Saturday, August 22, 2015, BNY Mellon's SunGard accounting system broke down during a software change. This led to the bank being unable to calculate net asset value (NAV) for 1,200 mutual funds via automated computer system.[129] Between the breakdown and the eventual fix, the bank calculated the values using alternative means, such as manual operation staff. By Wednesday, August 26, the system was still not fully operational.[130] The system was finally operational to regular capacity the following week. As a result of a Massachusetts Securities Division investigation into the company's failure and lack of a backup plan, the company paid $3 million.[131]
In December 2016, another major technology issue caused BNY Mellon to be unable to process payments related to the SWIFT network. As of the time of the issue, the bank processed about 160,000 global payments daily, an average of $1.6 trillion.[132] The company was unable to process payments for a 19 hours, which led to a backlog of payments and an extension of Fedwire payment services.[132]
Privately owned public space agreement violation
According to a New York City Comptroller audit in April 2017, BNY Mellon was in violation of a privately owned public space (POPS) agreement for at least 15 years. In constructing the 101 Barclay Street building in Lower Manhattan, BNY Mellon had received a permit allowing modification of height and setback regulations in exchange for providing a lobby accessible to the general public 24 hours a day. Auditors and members of the public had been unable to access or assess the lobby for many years, and were actively prevented from doing so by BNY Mellon security.[133][134]
In September 2018, the company began to permit public access to a portion of the lobby.[135] However, BNY Mellon remains in violation of its agreement, as the lobby must be accessible to the public 24 hours a day.[136] As of early 2021 the city Comptroller reported that company security personnel prevented auditors from entering or photographing the lobby and was seeking to have the "public lobby" designation removed.[137]
Employment legal issues
BNY Mellon settled foreign bribery charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2015 regarding its practice of providing internships to relatives of officials at a Middle Eastern investment fund.[138] The U.S. SEC found the firm in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.[139] The case was settled for $14.8 million.[140]
In March 2019, BNY Mellon staff considered legal options after the company banned employees from working from home.[141] In particular, staff cited concerns regarding the impact on childcare, mental health, and diversity.[142] The company reverted the ban as a result of employee outcry.[143]
Other legal issues
In September 2009, BNY Mellon settled a lawsuit that had been filed against the Bank of New York by the Russian government in May 2007 for money laundering; the original suit claimed $22.5 billion in damages and was settled for $14 million.[144][145]
In 2011, South Carolina sued BNY Mellon for allegedly failing to adhere to the investment guidelines relating to the state's pension fund. The company settled with the state in June 2013 for $34 million.[146][147]
In July 2012, BNY Mellon settled a class action lawsuit relating to the collapse of Sigma Finance Corp. The suit alleged that the bank invested and lost cash collateral in medium-term notes. The company settled the lawsuit for $280 million.[148]
In December 2018, BNY Mellon agreed to pay nearly $54 million to settle charges of improper handling of "pre-released" American depositary receipts (ADRs) under investigation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). BNY Mellon did not admit or deny the investigation findings but agreed to pay disgorgement of more than $29.3 million, $4.2 million in prejudgment interest and a penalty of $20.5 million.[149][150]
The bank says it is the longest running bank in the United States,[163] a distinction sometimes disputed by its rivals and some historians.[7] The Bank of North America was chartered in 1781, and was absorbed by a series of other entities until it was acquired by Wells Fargo. Similarly, The Massachusetts Bank went through a series of acquisitions and ended up as part of Bank of America. The Bank of New York remained independent, absorbing other companies, until its merger with Mellon. BNY Mellon is at least the third-oldest bank in the US.[7]
^"Mellon Financial Corporation - American bank". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 3, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015. In 1982 Mellon acquired the Girard Company, a major Philadelphia bank holding company, and in 1985 it merged with Commonwealth National Financial Corporation, a financial-services company based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Mellon Bank acquired the investment and money-management firm Boston Company, Inc., in 1993 and bought the Dreyfus Corporation, a large manager of mutual funds, in 1994
US$17.50 billion (2023)
