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The B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG is a private banking company in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Metzler traces its origins to a
trading company Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business, or government purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and deliver products to cust ...
established 1674 by Benjamin Metzler in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
and is Germany’s second oldest bank (after
Berenberg Bank Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a multinational full-service investment bank based in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded by the Flemish Berenberg family in 1590 () ...
) and the world's 5th oldest. The Metzler has been owned continuously and exclusively by the founding family since its foundation in 1674. Since 1971 Friedrich von Metzler has been leading the bank in the 11th generation as personally
liable In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agen ...
partner of the banking house. End of May 2018 he retired from the executive committee.


History

The origins of the banking house Metzler go back to a trading company founded by Benjamin Metzler in 1674. The name ''B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co.'' is derived from the son of the company founder Benjamin Metzler, who wanted to remember his deceased father by this naming. As early as the end of the 17th century, there was a coupling of merchandise and financial transactions due to the significant distance trade activities.


18th century

First money and exchange transactions of the company are provable since 1728. In 1742, a son of the founder was elected to the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Loca ...
Board. Since then, owners of the bank have almost uninterruptedly been represented on the management body of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and ''
Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to gl ...
AG''. The development from trading to banking was largely completed around 1760. In 1769 Friedrich Metzler became a partner in the family business, in 1771 its leader. He entered the
government bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity dat ...
business. It began in 1779 with a loan in favor of the
Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria (german: Kurfürstentum Bayern) was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Ba ...
. It was followed by Palatinate as a
Debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...
, 1795 the Kingdom of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
followed with a loan of one million
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
s. Also
Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernest ...
, the
House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
as well as the
House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau ( Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherland ...
became customers of Metzler. Through his dealings with the
Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...
he was awarded the title ''Königlich-preußischer geheimer Kommerzienrat'' (Royal Prussian Secret Commercial Council).


19th century

Towards the end of the 19th century the competition with the newly formed joint-stock banks led to a strategic orientation of the business toward the core competences of a private bank: renouncing the on-balance-sheet business and concentrating on individual financial services. Asset management was of particular importance.


20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the bank restricted the current account and lending business. At the same time, the trading of securities was deliberately expanded. In 1938, the Metzler bank was involved in the forced
Aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
banking houses, such as the banking houses ''Bass & Herz'', ''J. Dreyfus & Co.'' and ''Jacob S.H. Stern''. In order to safeguard independence in the long term and to strengthen the capital base, the company was transformed in 1986 from a partnership into a capital company in the form of a limited joint-stock partnership. This maintained the personal liability of the management, which is characteristic of a private bank. At the same time, ''B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG'' was established as the
parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of a holding based on the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
model. Since then, the various business areas have been the responsibility of independent subsidiaries of the bank. In 1994, the ''B. Metzler GmbH'' was founded, in which the corporate finance consulting is consolidated. The development of the bank in the 20th century was largely influenced by Albert von Metzler.


21st century

In 2001, one office was opened in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
, and another in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
in 2009. In 2007, the Metzler bank celebrated its 333rd anniversary. The bank, which is exclusively owned by the founding family, published the following figures in the consolidated financial statements for the financial year from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017: * Total assets: €3.9 billion * Assets under management: €76 billion * Equity: €201 million * Tier 1 capital ratio: more than 20% * Net profit: €2.3 million The number of employees rose in 2017 compared to the previous year by 4% to around 850. The bank would like to remain independent. A fusion with another private bank mentioned by the business press has been repeatedly and clearly rejected by the bank. In 2016, equity of over €200 million was reported.


Business areas

The Metzler bank focuses on capital market services for institutions and private clients in its core businesses
asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
,
capital market A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers ...
s,
corporate finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to all ...
and private banking. Metzler Asset Management customers include the ''Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder'' (Federal and State Utilities Agency). In addition to asset management for wealthy individuals and institutional clients, Metzler is also active in mutual funds business. With around 830 employees, the Metzler bank runs branches or subsidiaries in
Bedburg Bedburg () is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia of Germany with 25,000 residents. Since 2014, Sascha Solbach is the mayor of Bedburg. The town is documented as existing as early as 893. Climate Notable people Sons ...
(for the
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
/
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
region),
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...
,
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
,
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
,
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
.


Personally liable partners

In the history of the bank personally liable partners were active who were not members of the Metzler family, including: * Johann Zwirlein (1687 to 1698) * Gottfried Malß (1757 to 1771) * Hans Hermann Reschke (1982 to 1999) * Emmerich Müller (2005 to 2021) * Harald Illy (2012 to 2021) * Michael Klaus (2012 to 2020) * Johannes Reich (2012 to 2017) * Gerhard Wiesheu (2016 to 2021) With the conversion into a Aktiengesellschaft (stock corporation) in 2021, the personally liable partners were appointed as members of the Executive Board of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG.


See also

* Thomas David Lukas Olsen Kidnapping of Jakob von Metzler


References


External links


B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AGAnnual Report 2020
{{Authority control Banks based in Frankfurt Banks established in 1674 17th-century establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1674 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Private banks