Butterfield, officially The Bank of N. T. Butterfield & Son Limited, is a
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
founded and based in
Bermuda
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. It provides services to clients from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey, where its principal banking operations are located, and The Bahamas, Switzerland, Singapore and the United Kingdom, where it offers specialized financial services. Banking services comprise deposit, cash management and lending for individual, business and institutional clients. Wealth management services are composed of trust, private banking, asset management and custody. In Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Guernsey, Butterfield offers both banking and wealth management. In The Bahamas, Singapore and Switzerland, Butterfield offers select wealth management services. In the UK, Butterfield offers residential property lending. In Jersey, it offers banking and wealth management services. Butterfield is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: NTB) and the Bermuda Stock Exchange (symbol: NTB.BH).
History
![Butterfield Bank in Georgetown, Grand Cayman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Butterfield_Bank_in_Georgetown%2C_Grand_Cayman.jpg)
Nathaniel Butterfield founded a trading company in Bermuda in 1784, and Butterfield's son, Nathaniel T., expanded the business to include financial services. In 1858 the Bank of N. T. Butterfield was founded as Bermuda's first bank. Butterfield was incorporated by an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
in Bermuda in 1904.
In 1941, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the bank opened a branch in
St. George's, Bermuda
St. George's (formally the Town of St. George or St. George's Town), located on the island and within the parish of the same names (and on the northern side of St. George's Harbour, settled in 1612, is the first permanent English (and later Bri ...
, to serve military personnel. Following the war the bank experienced rapid growth, increasing its number of shareholders by 42% and becoming the largest Bermuda company in terms of shareholders. During the 1960s, the bank opened branches in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
and formed new companies to handle
mortgages
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
and
trusts
A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...
, followed by its third Bermuda branch, in
Somerset, Bermuda
Somerset Village is a small, unincorporated village in the northwest area of Bermuda, located in Sandys Parish. It lies in the northern half of Somerset Island.
Like Flatts Village and Tucker's Town, the settlement has existed for centuries, ...
, in 1970. During the 1980s the bank took over the
Bermuda National Bank
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, expanded its overseas business and introduced
automated teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...
s (ATMs) into Bermuda. In 2004, the bank acquired
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
merchant bank Leopold Joseph, This purchase also included Leopold Joseph Guernsey Limited.
In March 2010, Butterfield Group posted a US$213 million loss, and announced that
CIBC
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. T ...
, the Carlyle Group and other institutional investors had collectively purchased a majority stake in the bank through a capital injection of US$550 million.
It was also announced at that time that CEO & President Alan Thompson had stepped down from leadership of the company, with then-CFO Brad Kopp assuming the role of President and CEO.
Butterfield returned to profitability in 2011, posting net income for the year of US$40.5 million.
In 2012, Brendan McDonagh, who was previously chief executive officer of HSBC North America Holdings and group managing director, HSBC Holdings plc, joined Butterfield as a director and executive chairman. In August 2012, McDonagh was named chairman and chief executive officer.
In 2014, Butterfield acquired the trust and fiduciary services business of Guernsey-based Legis Group, adding further scale to its international trust business. In 2015, Butterfield completed the acquisition of select personal and corporate banking business from HSBC in the Cayman Islands, similarly expanding its market presence in that market.
On April 30, 2015, Butterfield repurchased and cancelled the majority of CIBC's shareholding in the Bank, with other shareholders taking up CIBC's remaining shares, and CIBC ceased to be a Butterfield shareholder.
In September 2015, Michael Collins, who was previously Senior Executive Vice President, was named Butterfield's chief executive officer, and Brendan McDonagh, former CEO, became the bank's executive chairman. McDonagh retired from the Bank and Board in October 2015, at which time Barclay Simmons, previously vice chairman, became chairman of the Board.
In September 2016, Butterfield became listed on the New York Stock Exchange through a successful $287.5 million initial public offering in the US. Following the listing, the Carlyle Group divested its holdings of Butterfield shares, and the Bank today is held widely by US institutional investors and individual shareholders.
Barclay Simmons retired as chairman in 2017, and Michael Collins became chairman of the Board in addition to his responsibilities as chief executive officer.
In 2018, Butterfield acquired from Deutsche Bank both its Global Trust Solutions business, which resulted in the addition of a Singapore trust company and a Mauritius-based support centre to the Butterfield network, and its Channel Islands Banking business, which resulted in Butterfield obtaining a full banking license in Jersey; the first bank to do so in a dozen years.
In April 2019 Butterfield bought the private banking activities of
ABN AMRO
ABN or abn may refer to:
Companies
* ABN AMRO Group, a Dutch bank group
* ABN AMRO, sometimes referred to as "ABN" in shorthand, is a Dutch state-owned bank
* Algemene Bank Nederland, a now-defunct Dutch bank
Radio, news and television organizat ...
on the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
In August 2021 it was announced that Butterfield would transfer its operations in Mauritius to Guernsey and closing its office in Mauritius.
References
External links
Butterfield Group: Our History
{{Authority control
Bank failures
Banks of Bermuda
Banks of the Caribbean
Offshore finance
Banks established in 1858
The Carlyle Group
1858 establishments in the British Empire
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange