This list of the oldest banks includes financial institutions in continuous operation, operating with the same legal identity without interruption since their establishment until the present time.
The world's oldest bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the world's oldest merchant bank is Berenberg Bank. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in its present form in 1624, but traces its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472. The Berenberg company was founded in 1590 and has operated continuously ever since with the same family as owners or major co-owners. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is today a large Italian retail bank, while Berenberg Bank is primarily involved in investment banking and private banking for wealthy customers; in any event Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest merchant bank or investment bank. The world's oldest central bank is the Sveriges Riksbank, which was founded in 1668. Banco di Napoli, which was absorbed by different entities between 2002–2018, had origins dating back to 1539, and until its absorption was likely the oldest bank worldwide in continuous operation; some scholars posit that its origins may be dated back to 1463.[1]
The only part of the bank that did not go into bankruptcy, the mortgage section, became in 1892 the Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay, nationalized in 1912 and still in operation.
^International Investment UBS to sell its Netherlands wealth management bizhttps://www.internationalinvestment.net/internationalinvestment/news/3503988/ubs-sell-netherlands-wealth-management-biz Archived 8 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 January 2021
^"A Chinese carmaker agrees to buy a Danish investment bank". The Economist. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
^The New York Times Belgian Bank Deal 25 April 1990 https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/25/business/company-news-belgian-bank-deal.html Accessed 2 January 2021
^Dedham Institution for Savings (2004). "This man has an account with us, opened in 1832, to fund the apprehension of horse thieves" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2005. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
^Howard, Marjorie (25 January 2013). "Office Treasures: No Horse Thievery Here". Tufts Now. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
^"South Shore, Dedham Savings banks to merge, but keep their respective brands - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
^"Star-Gazette Subscription Offers, Specials, and Discounts".
^Guy de Rougemont, Lazard Frères, Banquiers des Deux Mondes (1840-1939), Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2010
^"Exchange Bank & Trust | Personal, Business & Military Banking". www.ebt.bank. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
^"First Tennessee National Corporation." International Directory of Company Histories, edited by Paula Kepos, vol. 11, St. James Press, 1995, pp. 120-121. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
^"Tennant recognizes Jefferson Security Bank as state's oldest business". shepherdstownchronicle.com. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^"ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED.; Dominick & Dominick, Brokers, Observe Fiftieth Year in Business". The New York Times. 15 June 1920. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
^"News Room | Byblos Bank Acquires Banque Pharaon & Chiha | Lebanon | Byblos Bank". www.byblosbank.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^"About HNB | Recognized as the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka".
^Waldon, George (30 May 2022). "'Bank of 1889' Set to Debut In Berryville". Arkansas Business.
Literature
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Manfred Pohl; Sabine Freitag (1994), Handbook on the History of European Banks, European Association for Banking History, Cambridge University Press.