thumb|Historic Ionian Bank building in [[Corfu (city)|Corfu designed by architect Ioannis Chornis and completed in 1846, lately Banknote Museum of Alpha Bank, with statue of Georgios Theotokis in the foreground]]

thumb|Former Ionian Bank head office building in [[Athens, erected 1911-1916 and subsequently expanded, lately a branch of Alpha Bank]]

The Ionian Bank was a bank of issue established in 1839 in London to operate in the United States of the Ionian Islands, which was then a British protectorate. The bank moved its head office in Greece from Corfu to Athens in 1873, and expanded in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, including through the acquisition of Greece's Popular Bank in 1938. After losing its branches in Egypt to nationalization in 1956, the British parent entity sold its operations outside the United Kingdom. The Greek business, renamed Ionian and Popular Bank and nationalized in 1975, was eventually absorbed into Alpha Bank in 2000.

Bank of issue

thumb|Sir Howard Douglas (1776-1861) played a key role in the creation of the Ionian Bank

At the initiative of Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands Howard Douglas, and following earlier failed attempts in 1833 and 1837, a resolution of the Senate of the Ionian Islands established the Ionian State Bank on , primarily to finance trade between the islands and Great Britain. It opened operations in Corfu on , making it the oldest in what is now Greece. The Ionian Bank received a 20-year grant of the exclusive privilege of issuing and circulating banknotes for the Ionian Islands. The bank soon changed its name to Ionian Bank, and initially only operated in the Ionian Islands, opening branches in Corfu, Zakynthos and Kefalonia the following year. It received a British royal charter that clarified its legal structure in 1844.

Interwar period

thumb|Ionian Bank's former branch in [[Nicosia, Cyprus]]

thumb|Former head office of Popular Bank on [[Panepistimiou Street, also designed by Metaxas and completed 1927, In 1938, it acquired more than two-thirds of the share capital of Popular Bank, which had been established in 1905.

World War II and aftermath

During World War II in 1942, the Italian authorities forcibly acquired the Ionian Bank's holdings in Popular Bank. At the end of the War, the Ionian Bank regained its holdings. The Ionian Bank had provided cover for British Intelligence, and two of its directors, Bickham Sweet-Escott and Robin Brook, had belonged to MI6. Be that as it may, all British and French banks were nationalized by Egypt at the same time.

The loss of the Egyptian activity marked a turning point for the Ionian Bank. In 1957, Emporiki Bank acquired all operations of Ionian Bank and of its subsidiary Popular Bank in Greece, then merged the former into the latter which was renamed Ionian and Popular Bank, which thus became the third-largest bank in Greece with a nationwide network of 24 branches. The Cyprus operations were sold to the Chartered Bank.

In 1975, the Ionian and Popular Bank was placed under government supervision, as was the entire Emporiki group. In 1986, Ionian and Popular Bank reverted to using "Ionian Bank" as its brand identity. In 1988 it opened an office in London. which in 2006 was acquired by Abu Dhabi's Union National Bank. The branch later came under operation by Qatar National Bank, which reopened it in 2023 following renovation.

See also

  • Banknote Museum of Alpha Bank
  • Privileged Bank of Epirothessaly
  • Bank of Crete (1899–1919)
  • List of banks in Greece

References

Further reading

  • Ionian Bank (1953) Ionian Bank Limited: A History. (London).
  • Cottrell, P.L. (2002) Founding a multinational enterprise: Ionian Bank, 1833–1849, in P. Kostis, (ed.) The creators and creation of banking enterprises in Europe from the 18th to the 20th centuries. (Athens: Historical Archives, Alpha Bank).
  • Cottrell, P.L. (2007) The Ionian Bank: An Imperial Institution, 1864–1938. (Athens: Historical Archives, Alpha Bank).
  • Catalogue of the Ionian Bank papers at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
  • Archives regarding the establishment of the bank
  • Court of Directors minute books, 1839 to 1917.
  • Ionian Bank leaflet (pdf).