First Hawaiian, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
. Its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, founded in 1858, is Hawaii’s oldest and largest financial institution headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the
First Hawaiian Center
First Hawaiian Center is the second tallest building in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the city of Honolulu, the largest city in the state. It is the world corporate headquarters of First Hawaiian Bank, the oldest and largest bank based in Hawaii. ...
. The bank has 57 branches throughout Hawaii, three in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and two in
Saipan. It offers banking services to consumer and commercial customers, including deposit products, lending services and wealth management, insurance, private banking and trust services. First Hawaiian was listed on the
NASDAQ on August 4, 2016, and made its debut at number 12 in the January 2017 publication of Forbes' America's 100 Largest Banks with $20 billion in total assets. In 2019,
BNP Paribas sold its stake in First Hawaiian Bank.
History
In 1858, local businessmen,
Charles Reed Bishop
Charles Reed Bishop (January 25, 1822 – June 7, 1915) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist in Hawaii. Born in Glens Falls, New York, he sailed to Hawaii in 1846 at the age of 24, and made his home there, marrying into the ...
and William A. Aldrich, opened Bishop & Co. This was the first successful banking partnership under the laws of the independent
Kingdom of Hawaii. It operated from a basement room in "Makee & Anthon's Building" on Kaahumanu Street. On the day Bishop & Co. opened, it took in $4,784.25 in deposits. In 1895,
Samuel M. Damon bought Bishop & Co. from Charles Bishop.
In 1910, Bishop & Co. bank opened its first branch in
Hilo. It then opened its first
Kauai branch in
Waimea in 1911. In 1919 Bishop & Co. incorporated as the Bank of Bishop & Co.
During the 1920s the bank steadily grew, acquiring the Bank of Honolulu in 1922, opening a branch in
Kona in 1923, and opening yet another branch on
Lānai in 1924. The bank's growth slowed after it merged with First National Bank of Hawaii, First American Savings Bank, Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks, and Baldwin Bank (Maui) in 1929. The bank then changed its name to Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu.
In 1933, the bank's name became Bishop National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu. The bank's name changed yet again in 1956, this time to Bishop National Bank of Hawaii.
In 1966, Cooke Trust Company acquired the bank. It was then changed to First Hawaiian Bank in 1969. The next year, in 1970, the bank opened its first branch on Guam in
Dededo
Dededo ( ch, Dedidu; formerly in Spanish: , in Japanese: , ''Dededo'') is the most populated village in the United States territory of Guam. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dededo's population was just under 45,000 in 2020. The village is loca ...
.
In 1975, First Hawaiian acquired Hawaii Thrift & Loan, which had been in financial difficulty, and turned it into First Hawaiian Creditcorp.
First Hawaiian Bank acquired many other banks during the 1990s. In 1991, First Hawaiian acquired First Interstate Bank of Hawaii. Then in 1992, it acquired the East West Bank, which had one branch in Honolulu and one on Maui.
In 1993, the bank acquired Pioneer Federal Savings Bank, which continued to operate as a separate institution.
In 1996, First Hawaiian acquired 31 branches in
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
from
U.S. Bancorp. It then created a new subsidiary - Pacific One Bank - to hold the branches, with a charter in Oregon. During the same year, First Hawaiian also acquired ANB Financial Corporation, which was the owner of American National Bank in central Washington state. American National's branches eventually became part of Pacific One Bank. At the same time as all of these mergers, First Hawaiian built its new headquarters, the
First Hawaiian Center
First Hawaiian Center is the second tallest building in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the city of Honolulu, the largest city in the state. It is the world corporate headquarters of First Hawaiian Bank, the oldest and largest bank based in Hawaii. ...
. At , it is the tallest building in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
.
In 1997, First Hawaiian merged in Pioneer Federal and the next year merged in First Hawaiian Creditcorp. In the following year, 1998, First Hawaiian merged with
San-Francisco-based
Bank of the West. The surviving company, First Hawaiian, Inc., was renamed BancWest Corporation. Former First Hawaiian, Inc. shareholders owned 55% of BancWest;
Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP), former owner of Bank of the West, owned 45%.
In 2001, First Hawaiian Bank acquired
Union Bank of California
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
's branch network in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and
Saipan. In December, BNP Paribas completed its acquisition of 100% of First Hawaiian Bank and its parent company BancWest. Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, however, continued to operate as separate institutions.
On December 23, 2015, First Hawaiian Bank announced that parent company BNP Paribas was considering strategic options for the subsidiary, including an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
. On August 4, 2016, shares of the company started being sold on the
NASDAQ.
In 2018, BNP Paribas reduced their stake in First Hawaiian to 33.3%, and by January 2019, it had sold its remaining stake.
See also
*
BNP Paribas, First Hawaiian's previous parent company
References
External links
First Hawaiian Bankwebsite
{{authority control
Banks based in Hawaii
American companies established in 1858
Banks established in 1858
1858 establishments in Hawaii
2016 initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies based in Honolulu
BNP Paribas