MeesPierson is a Netherlands-based private bank headquartered in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. Until 2009, the bank was known as Fortis MeesPierson. The name derives from the November 1992 merger of

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

s Mees &

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

(founded by Franco Cordelois, Jan de Vrijer & Rudolf & Gregorius Mees as Cordelois, de Vrijer & Mees in 1720, becoming G. Mees & Zoon and was renamed R. Mees & Zoonen which merged with Hope & Co. (founded by Scots Jan &

Henry Hope Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business Hope & Co. at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the manager of Hope & Co. and he participa ...

in 1762) in 1962) and Pierson, Heldring & Pierson (founded by Athanase Adolphe Henri Boissevain in Amsterdam as Boissevain & Co. in 1875, renamed Pierson & Co. by Jan Pierson in 1917 and founded as Heldring & Pierson by Justinus Heldring & Henri Pierson in 1879 in the Hague , both companies merged in 1952). In 1997,

Fortis bank BNP Paribas Fortis is an international bank based in Belgium and is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas. It was formerly, together with Fortis Bank Nederland, the banking arm of the financial institution Fortis. After the ultimately unsuccessful ABN-AMR ...

acquired MeesPierson from

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 ...

and, in 2005, changed its name to Fortis MeesPierson. The initial plan was to incorporate the name into Fortis Private Banking, but this plan was never realised because of the strong brand MeesPierson. According to some sources the board of directors decided not to change the name under pressure of the wealthy clients. As a result of the nationalization of

Fortis Bank Nederland Fortis Bank Nederland (formally Fortis Bank Nederland (Holding) N.V.) was a bank in the Netherlands until 2010. The holding came into being within Fortis Group, as a holding for those Dutch banks taken over by Fortis. In September–October 200 ...

in October 2008, Fortis MeesPierson once again changed its name to ''MeesPierson'' in 2009. MeesPierson is also known for being the Dutch royal family's bankers

External links

* Banks of the Netherlands Banks established in 1992 ABN AMRO {{Netherlands-bank-stub