In the English language, banq and banc are

coined word ''Protologism'' is a term coined in 2003 by the American literary theorist Mikhail Epstein in reference to a word coined, by an individual or a small group, that has not yet been published independently of the coiner(s). The word may be proposed, ...

s pronounced identically to the word "

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 ...

". Both terms have been adopted by financial services companies and others to satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word ''bank''. The

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used in the names of

bank holding companies A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well. United States ...

. For example, a hypothetical chartered bank named Bank of Manhattan might form a holding company named "Manhattan Bancorp", and a sister insurance business named "Banc of Manhattan Insurance". One well-known past example was Bank of America's investment banking entity, named

Banc of America Securities In the English language, banq and banc are coined words pronounced identically to the word "bank". Both terms have been adopted by financial services companies and others to satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word ''bank''. The comp ...

(now part of

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading p ...

). This practice originates from legal necessity: in the United States, the commerce departments of state governments generally prohibit or restrict the use of certain words in the names of corporations unless those corporations are legitimate chartered banks. For example, words prohibited by the state of Louisiana include ''bank, banker, banking, savings, safe deposit, trust, trustee,'' and ''credit union''. The evasive nature of the word does not necessarily indicate that an imposter is attempting to fraudulently impersonate a bank. One notable example is a company called ''Cachet Banq Inc.'', an

automated clearing house An automated clearing house (ACH) is a computer-based electronic network for processing transactions, usually domestic low value payments, between participating financial institutions. It may support both credit transfers and direct debits. The ...

processing service that performs automated banking transactions for

payroll A payroll is the list of employees of some company that is entitled to receive payments as well as other work benefits and the amounts that each should receive. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time worked or tasks pe ...

processing. The company does not claim to offer any

banking services Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...

, such as

deposits A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below. ...

or loans, and would only be able to legally include the word ''"bank"'' in its name in its home state of California with the approval of the California Department of Financial Institutions. A similar example includes a company called ''Wine Banq'',Wine Banq, whose name clearly suggests it has nothing to do with the banking industry. Naming laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as well as their interpretations. Notable counter-examples include

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology labo ...

s and

sperm bank A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons for the purpose ...

References

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