Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational
financial services company and the
largest bank in Canada by
market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000 employees worldwide.
Founded in 1864 in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
, it maintains a corporate headquarters in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and its head office in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
.
RBC's
institution number is 003. In November 2017, RBC was added to the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum ...
's
list of global systemically important banks.
In Canada, the bank's personal and commercial banking operations are branded as ''RBC Royal Bank'' in English and ''RBC Banque Royale'' in French and serves approximately 10 million clients through its network of 1,209 branches.
RBC Bank
RBC Bank is the trading name of RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A., the United States-based retail banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) which is targeted toward Canadian snowbirds, expatriates, and frequent tourists. Despite its limited reach ...
is a US banking subsidiary which formerly operated 439 branches across six states in the
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
,
but now only offers cross-border banking services to Canadian travellers and expats. RBC's other US subsidiary
City National Bank operates 79 branches across 11 US states.
RBC also has 127 branches across seventeen countries in the Caribbean, which serve more than 16 million clients.
RBC Capital Markets
RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, and governments globally. Locations span 58 offices in 14 countries across North ...
is RBC's worldwide investment and corporate banking subsidiary, while the investment brokerage firm is known as
RBC Dominion Securities
RBC Dominion Securities was the brand used by Royal Bank of Canada for full service brokerage services, primarily in Canada, and formed part of RBC's Wealth Management and Capital Markets divisions. Today, RBC Dominion Securities is known as RBC Ca ...
. Investment banking services are also provided through RBC Bank and the focus is on middle market clients.
In 2011, RBC was the largest Canadian company by revenue and market capitalization
and was ranked 50th in the 2013
''Forbes'' Global 2000 listing. The company has operations in Canada and 36 other countries,
and had CA$1.01 trillion of
assets under management in 2021.
History
In 1864, the Merchants Bank of Halifax was founded in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
, as a commercial bank that financed the fishing and timber industries and the European and Caribbean import/export businesses.
By 1869 the Merchants' Bank was officially incorporated and received its federal charter in the same year.
During the 1870s and 1880s, the bank expanded into the other
Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
. When both the Newfoundland Commercial Bank and Union Bank of Newfoundland collapsed on 10 December 1894, the Merchants Bank expanded to Newfoundland on 31 January 1895.
![Union Bank Halifax Canada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Union_Bank_Halifax_Canada.jpg)
As the bank grew, executives changed its name to reflect its growth and western expansion.
In 1901, the Merchants Bank of Halifax changed its name to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The centre of the Canadian financial industry had moved from Halifax to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, so the Merchants Bank relocated its head office there. In 1910, RBC merged with the
Union Bank of Halifax. In the same year it built a bank branch in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
, Manitoba, designed by
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture firms. Located in New York City ...
, in beaux-arts classicism proclaiming the financial dominance of Winnipeg in the prairies.
To improve its position in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, RBC merged with Traders Bank of Canada in 1912 and in 1917 RBC merged with
Quebec Bank
Quebec Bank was founded on June 9, 1818 to meet a perceived need by some merchants and residents of Quebec City. They wanted an alternative to the newly founded Bank of Montreal which they felt was inadequate for the needs of the province.
The ba ...
, which was founded in 1818 and chartered in 1822 in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
.
RBC's presence in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
was strengthened through a 1918 merger with Northern Crown Bank, the product of the 1908 merger of Northern Bank (established in 1905 in Winnipeg) and Crown Bank of Canada (1904), based in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
. RBC's presence in the
Canadian Prairie was further expanded by the 1925 merger with the Union Bank of Canada, which had begun in Quebec City in 1865 as the Union Bank of Lower Canada, but changed its name in 1886. The Union Bank of Canada had moved its headquarters to Winnipeg in 1912, and had built a strong presence in the Prairies and opened the first bank in the
Northwest Territories at
Fort Smith in 1921.
![Union bank at Pape and Danforth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Union_bank_at_Pape_and_Danforth.jpg)
In 1935, RBC merged with Crown Savings and Loan Co. merged with Industrial Mortgage & Trust Co.
RBC installed its first computer in 1961, the
IBM 1401
The IBM 1401 is a variable-wordlength decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing unit record equipment for processing data stored on pu ...
, the first to do so in Canadian banking. In the 1960s, RBC Insurance was created.
In 1968, it merged with Ontario Loan and Debenture Company (formerly Ontario Savings and Investment Society).
RBC Insurance is the largest Canadian bank-owned insurance organization, with services to over five million people. It provides life, health, travel, home and auto and reinsurance products as well as creditor and business insurance services.
In 1993, RBC merged with
Royal Trust.
In 1998, RBC acquired
Security First Network Bank
Security First Network Bank (SFNB) was the first pure Internet bank in the United States. It had no physical branch bank offices and could only be accessed online. It was founded in Pineville, Kentucky, in October 1995 by James (Chip) S. Maha ...
in Atlanta—the first pure Internet bank.
In the same year, the Royal Bank of Canada proposed to merge with the
Bank of Montreal, at the same time as the
Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. T ...
proposed to merge with the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
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. ...
. Both mergers were examined by the
Competition Bureau of Canada, and ultimately rejected by
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
, at the time the
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
of Canada, and future
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
.
In 2000, RBC merged merchant credit/debit card acquiring business with the
Bank of Montreal's to form
Moneris
Moneris (formerly "Moneris Solutions") is Canada's largest financial technology company that specializes in payment processing.
Moneris was established in December 2000 as a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. Th ...
Solutions. In 2013, RBC completed the acquisition of the Canadian subsidiary of
Ally Financial
Ally Financial is a bank holding company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online banking via a direct bank, corporate lending, vehicle insurance, mor ...
.
An RBC branch in
The Glebe
The Glebe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just south of Ottawa's downtown area in the Capital Ward. According to the Glebe Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the north by the Queensway, on the ...
neighbourhood of
Ottawa was firebombed in May 2010. The party responsible later identified themselves on
Independent Media Center
The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seatt ...
and threatened to make their presence at the upcoming
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, as RBC was one of its key sponsors, as well as at the
2010 G20 Toronto summit
The 2010 G20 Toronto summit was the fourth meeting of the G20 heads of state/government, to discuss the global financial system and the world economy, which took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during J ...
.
In November 2022, RBC announced purchasing
HSBC Canada, this deal included acquiring 100% of the common shares of HSBC Canada for an all-cash purchase price of $13.5 billion, which is a multiple of 9.4 times HSBC Canada's estimated 2024 earnings. Completion of the transaction is expected by late 2023, subject to regulatory approvals.
International expansion
![Downtown Minneapolis from the Skyroom (38094444456)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Downtown_Minneapolis_from_the_Skyroom_%2838094444456%29.jpg)
* 1882: Merchants Bank of Halifax opened offices in
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = "Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, es ...
and
Newfoundland.
* 1899: RBC opened an agency in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and a branch in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. .
* 1903: RBC bought Banco de Oriente de Santiago de Cuba. By the mid-1920s, RBC had 65 branches in Cuba and is the largest bank in the country.
* 1904: RBC bought Banco del Commercio de Havana.
* 1907: RBC opened a branch in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
; branches in
Mayagüez and
Ponce followed.
* 1909: RBC established a branch in
Nassau, Bahamas.
* 1910: RBC opened a branch in London and acquired branches in Puerto Rico and
Port of Spain,
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
as a result of its acquisition of
Union Bank of Halifax.
* 1911: RBC opened an agency in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, and branches in
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...
, Barbados, and
Kingston, Jamaica.
* 1912: RBC bought Bank of British Honduras (incorporated in 1902 by United States citizens from
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
) in
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973, , which it converted to a branch.
** RBC opened a branch in the Dominican Republic; three more follow.
* 1913: RBC opened a branch in Grenada.
* 1914: RBC bought out Bank of British Guiana (est. 1836), in
British Guiana, and converted it to a branch.
* 1915: RBC opened branches in Costa Rica,
Antigua, Dominica, and
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...
.
* 1916: RBC opened a branch in Venezuela.
* 1917: RBC opened branches in Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts,
Montserrat,
Nevis
Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...
, and
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
.
* 1918: RBC opened a branch in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, and another in
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...
that lasted less than a year.
* 1919: RBC opened branches in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
,
Guadeloupe, and
Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
* 1920: RBC opened a branch in Colombia and a branch in
Castries, St Lucia.
* 1923: RBC bought and consolidated the banking operations of Pedro Gomez Mena e Hijo in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
* 1925: RBC opened a branch in Peru, and acquired the American-owned, and failed,
Bank of Central and South America The Bank of Central and South America was established in Connecticut in 1922. The next year it acquired some of the assets of the Mercantile Bank of the Americas (est. 1915), including its entire interest in the National Bank of Nicaragua, Banco M ...
. The purchase of BCSA brought with it subsidiaries, and their branches, in Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela
* 1932: RBC closed its branch in St. Lucia.
* 1940: RBC closed its branches in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
and
Guadeloupe.
* 1959: RBC opened a branch in
St. Vincent.
* 1960: RBC returned to St. Lucia.
* 1960:
Fidel Castro's regime acquired RBC's operations in Cuba on 8 December.
At the time of the forced sale, RBC had 24 branches in Cuba. From 1961 to 1965, RBC maintained a Special Representative in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. to facilitate trade between Cuba and Canada. After the failed
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...
in April 1961, the Special Representative acted as a financial intermediary between the American and Cuban governments to manage the ransoming of the prisoners for food and agricultural machinery.
* 1964: RBC opened a branch in
George Town, Cayman Islands
George Town is the capital and largest city in the Cayman Islands, located on Grand Cayman. , the city had a population of 34,921, making it the largest city (by population) of all the British Overseas Territories.
George Town is the heart o ...
.
* 1970s: As a result of Law 75, RBC's operations in Colombia became Banco Royal Colombiano.
* 1973: RBC was forced to incorporate its operations in
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, which became Royal Bank (Jamaica).
* 1980: RBC purchased Banco de San Juan in Puerto Rico, adding its 14 branches to the six that RBC already had in Puerto Rico. RBC sold its assets in Grenada to
Republic Bank
Republic Bank Limited is a leading Caribbean financial institution headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It has operations in Anguilla, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevi ...
of Trinidad and Tobago.
* 1985: RBC started to withdraw from much of the Caribbean.
** It sold its 12 branches in the Dominican Republic to
Banco de Comercio Dominicano.
** It also sold its stake in Royal Bank (Jamaica) to Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance. Branches in Curacao, Aruba, St. Maarten and Dominica are still open (1985–present)
** The Government of Guyana nationalized its operations there and renamed the bank the
National Bank of Industry and Commerce Ltd.
**A dditionally RBC incorporated its operations in Trinidad and Tobago locally, floating the shares, thereby divesting itself of ownership. The new bank took the name
Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
The Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) was a commercial bank based in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest commercial banking corporations in the Caribbean region. As of 2008 RBTT Holdings had a group asset base of over US$6.2 billion d ...
(RBTT).
* 1986:
National Mutual Royal Bank opened in Australia with RBC having a 50% shareholding
* 1986: RBC sold its two branches in Haiti to
Societe Generale Haitienne de Banque, a local bank.
* 1987: RBC sold its operations in Belize, ex-British Honduras, to Belize Holdings Inc., which renamed them
Belize Bank
Belize Bank (BB) is the first, oldest continuing, and largest bank in Belize. , it had over BZ$880 million in assets and BZ$147 million of capital reserves. Its network of 11 branches covers the entire country. The Belize Bank Limited has a 44% m ...
.
* 1990: National Mutual Royal Bank in Australia sold to the
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by ma ...
* 1993: RBC sold Royal Bank of Puerto Rico to Spain's
Banco Bilbao-Vizcaya.
* 1995: RBC sold Royal Trust Bank (Austria) to
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was an Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It began to wind down after nationalisation in 2009. In July 2011 Anglo Irish merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, forming a new company named the Iri ...
, which renamed it Anglo Irish Bank (Austria).
* 2000: Acquired
Dain Rauscher Wessels
Dain Rauscher Wessels was a brokerage and investment banking firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm traced its origins to a number of smaller regional securities firms founded in the 1920s and 1930s.
In 2000, Dain Rauscher Wessels was a ...
, a US
broker
A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...
age and
investment banking firm based in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, Minnesota
* 2001: RBC acquired Centura Bank based in
Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
* 2001: RBC bought the investment banking and brokerage firm
Tucker Anthony Sutro (
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
) from
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.
John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot.
In 2004, John Hancock was acquired b ...
* 2003: RBC purchased Florida interest in Provident Financial Group, Cincinnati OH.
* 2006: RBC upgraded its representative office in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China, to a branch.
* 2006: Created an institutional investment joint venture with
Dexia
Dexia N.V./S.A., or the Dexia Group, is a Franco-Belgian financial institution formed in 1996. At its peak in 2010, it had about 35,200 members of staff and a core shareholders' equity of €19.2 billion.
In 2008, the bank entered severe ...
. The 50/50 partnership operated under the name RBC Dexia Investor Services.
* 2008: RBC established a representative office in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, India. RBC re-acquired 98.14% of the shares of
Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
The Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) was a commercial bank based in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest commercial banking corporations in the Caribbean region. As of 2008 RBTT Holdings had a group asset base of over US$6.2 billion d ...
. This brought RBC back to Trinidad and Tobago 20 years after it had withdrawn and provided it with a presence in other islands served by RBTT.
* 2011: RBC sold
RBC Bank
RBC Bank is the trading name of RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A., the United States-based retail banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) which is targeted toward Canadian snowbirds, expatriates, and frequent tourists. Despite its limited reach ...
to
PNC Financial Services for US$3.62 billion. PNC ATMs are now used by customers with RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A. providing Canadians with bank options when they are residing in the US.
* 2012: RBC completed the acquisition of Dexia's 50% stake in RBC Dexia Investor Services Limited, making it the sole owner of the newly named
BC Investor & Treasury Services RBC also opened a Branch in Wilemstad, Curaçao.
* 2014: RBC "entered into a merger agreement to acquire
City National Corporation
City National Bank (CNB) is a bank headquartered at City National Plaza in Los Angeles, California. CNB is a subsidiary of the Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada and it is the 35th largest bank in the United States .
CNB has been dubbed the '' ...
", a major U. S. bank.
* 2015: RBC agreed to sell its Swiss private bank Royal Bank of Canada (Suisse) SA to local rival
SYZ Group. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Royal Bank of Canada (Suisse) manages
CHF 10 billion (US$10.5 billion, C$13.4 billion) of assets for clients in Africa, the Middle East and South America.
* 2015: RBC completed the acquisition of City National Bank (November)
* 2016: On January 21, 2016, Aviva announced the acquisition of RBC General Insurance Company, for C$582 million.
* 2019: RBC agreed to sell its Eastern Caribbean banking operations, in places such as
Antigua,
Dominica, and
Saint Lucia, to a consortium of banks in the region.
Branding
Logo
The bank's symbol is a golden
lion clutching a globe, on a blue background. An older version depicted a crown above the globe and the lion faced to the left. The change coincided with an expansion in United States markets. Over the years, the lion's mane has also become less detailed and more stylized, and the tongue was shortened.
Sponsorship
RBC sponsors cultural events including the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
. It also sponsors the
RBC Taylor Prize, a
literary award for non-fiction writing in Canada, and hosts a yearly Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award.
In July 2013, the RBC Foundation partnered with the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
to revive the
Siminovitch Prize in Theatre
The Siminovitch Prize is Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers. $100,000 is awarded annually, and for recipients, who are given the public recognition and financial resources, it i ...
, given to recognize achievement in Canadian theatre.
![Proud Sponsor (4350970068)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Proud_Sponsor_%284350970068%29.jpg)
RBC is one of Canada's largest sponsors of amateur sports and is the longest-running Canadian sponsor of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
. It employs dozens of top-tier amateur athletes as part-time spokespeople through the
RBC Olympians program. RBC is a former premier sponsor of
Hockey Canada and previously owned the naming rights to the
National Junior A Championship
The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...
, then called the Royal Bank Cup (later the RBC Cup). In addition, it supports Canadian hockey at the grassroots level through the RBC Play Hockey program.
RBC owns naming rights to the
RBC Centre
RBC Centre, also known as the RBC Dexia Building, is an office tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Unlike the corporate offices of other Canadian financial institutions, the RBC Centre is outside of Toronto's Financial District. It has been owned ...
,
RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg
The RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg (formerly the Winnipeg Convention Centre) is a major meeting and convention centre located in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
It has five levels including indoor parking for 729 vehicles, and three levels o ...
,
RBC Canadian Open
The Canadian Open (french: L'Omnium Canadien) is a professional golf tournament in Canada. It is co-organized by Golf Canada (formerly known as the Royal Canadian Golf Association) and the PGA Tour. It was first played in 1904, and has been hel ...
, and
RBC Heritage
The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia.
T ...
(formerly the Heritage Classic). From 2002 to 2012, RBC previously held the naming rights to what is now the
PNC Arena
PNC Arena (originally Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena and formerly the RBC Center) is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The arena seats 18,680 for ice hockey and 19,722 for basketball, including 61 suites, 13 loge boxes a ...
in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...
.
RBC has owned naming rights for the
Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards is an annual campaign by ''Canadian Immigrant'' magazine that recognizes outstanding work by immigrants who "have come to Canada and have made a positive difference living in the country."
Overview
First ...
, presented annually by ''
Canadian Immigrant
''Canadian Immigrant'' is a free monthly magazine and daily website for recent arrivals to Canada. The properties are owned by Torstar, and are currently published by Metroland Media Group, with print distribution throughout British Columbia, Alber ...
'', since 2013.
Corporate governance
The title of Royal Bank's top executive has changed several times. Initially it was styled as ''President''. Later, it became ''chief executive officer'' and one often carried additional responsibilities as ''chairman of the board'', while the second-in-command was the ''President''. Allan R. Taylor was chairman and CEO from 1986 to 1994, and he was succeeded by
John Cleghorn
John Edward Cleghorn, , (born July 7, 1941) is a Canadian business executive and a former university leader. Cleghorn was former chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada from 1994 until 2001. He is a former chairman of the b ...
in that capacity from 1994 to 2001. Dave McKay is currently the ''President and chief executive officer''.
David P. O'Brien has served as the institution's chairman (non-executive) since 2004. The position was formerly held by
Guy Saint-Pierre
Guy Saint-Pierre, (born August 3, 1934 – January 23, 2022) was a Canadian entrepreneur, business executive, politician and philanthropist. He is best known for having orchestrated the merger of SNC and Lavalin to create SNC Lavalin, the lar ...
, who held the position from 2001 to 2004.
Chief executive officers
*
Thomas Edward Kenny (1879–1908)
*
Herbert Samuel Holt
Sir Herbert Samuel Holt (February 12, 1856 – September 29, 1941) was an Irish-born Canadian civil engineer who became a businessman, banker, and corporate director with a ruthless business reputation. He was President of the Royal Bank o ...
(1908–1934)
*
Morris W. Wilson (1934–1946)
*
Sydney Dobson (1946–1949)
*
James Muir (1949–1960)
*
W. Earle McLaughlin (1960–1979)
*
Rowland C. Frazee (1977–1980)
*
Jock K. Finlayson (1980–1983)
*
Allan R. Taylor (1986–1994)
*
John E. Cleghorn (1994–2001)
*
Gordon Nixon (2001–2014)
*
David I. McKay (2014–present)
Head offices
The head office for the institution was initially located at the Merchants' Bank of Halifax Building, on Bedford Row,
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. The building served as the head office for the bank from 1864 to 1907. In 1907, the RBC relocated its head office to the Four Pillars Building, at 147
Saint Jacques Street
Saint Jacques Street (officially in french: rue Saint-Jacques), or St. James Street, is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running from Old Montreal westward to Lachine.
The street is commonly known by two names, "St. James Street" in ...
(renumbered 221 in 1928), Montreal. The building was used as RBC's head office until 1928. The Four Pillars Building was later demolished, with only its facade remaining. In 1928, RBC moved its head office to the
Old Royal Bank Building, at 360
Saint Jacques Street
Saint Jacques Street (officially in french: rue Saint-Jacques), or St. James Street, is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running from Old Montreal westward to Lachine.
The street is commonly known by two names, "St. James Street" in ...
, Montreal.
In 1962, RBC moved its head office to
Place Ville-Marie
Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. It serves as the main and official headquarters for Roya ...
, at
University Street
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
and
René-Lévesque Boulevard
René-Lévesque is a provincial electoral district in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada, which elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It notably includes the municipalities of Baie-Comeau, Forestville and Pointe-Lebel as well ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
. In 1976, RBC completed
Royal Bank Plaza
Royal Bank Plaza is a skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that serves as the "corporate headquarters" for the Royal Bank of Canada. The building shares with the Fairmont Royal York Hotel the block in Toronto's financial district bordered by ...
, at 200
Bay Street
Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...
, Toronto. The Royal Bank of Canada presently operates two headquarters, with its head office based at Place Ville-Marie, and a corporate headquarters at
Royal Bank Plaza
Royal Bank Plaza is a skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that serves as the "corporate headquarters" for the Royal Bank of Canada. The building shares with the Fairmont Royal York Hotel the block in Toronto's financial district bordered by ...
.
Most of its management operations are based in Toronto.
Controversies
Discrimination
On January 15, 2007,
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
reported RBC was "refusing" to open US dollar accounts for people of certain nationalities.
Canadian citizens with
dual citizenship
Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...
in Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea or Sudan (mostly countries with US sanctions) were affected. The
US Treasury Department
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
restricts certain foreign nationals from using the US dollar payment system to limit
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
and
money laundering after the
September 11, 2001, attacks. RBC replied that compliance with such laws does not represent an endorsement by the bank and on January 17, clarified its position on the application of the US laws, specifying that "with some exceptions" it does open accounts for dual citizens of the sanctioned countries.
There have also been reports that the bank had closed the accounts of some
Iranian-Canadian
Iranian Canadians or Persian Canadians are citizens of Canada whose national background is traced from Iran or are people possessing Iranian and Canadian dual citizenship. From the 2016 Canadian census, the main communities can be found in Southe ...
citizens.
Environment
Environmental groups criticized RBC's financing of
oil sands
Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...
bitumen extraction and expansion, cumulatively issuing "more than $2.3 billion in loans and financing more than $6.9 billion in
orporatedebt between 2003 and 2007 for 13 companies including:
Encana
Ovintiv Inc. is a hydrocarbon exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, United States. It was founded and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, under its previous name Encana. It was the largest energy c ...
,
Husky Energy
Husky Energy Inc. is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates in Western and Atlantic Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region, with upstream and downstream business segm ...
,
OPTI Canada, Delphi Energy,
Canadian Oil Sands Trust
Canadian Oil Sands Limited was a Canadian company that generates income from its oil sands investment in the Syncrude Joint Venture. Syncrude operated an oil sands facility and produced crude oil through the mining of oil sands from ore deposits ...
, Northwest Upgrading,
Suncor
Suncor Energy (french: Suncor Énergie) is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-lar ...
,
TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...
,
Connacher Oil and Gas, InterPipeline and
Enbridge
Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...
". This opposition was due to the detrimental effect Oil Sands extraction has on the environment and human health.
A 2020 report on fossil fuel finance by the Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network found that RBC was the fifth largest funder of fossil fuels in the world, and largest in Canada, investing over US$160 billion on fossil fuel projects since the
Paris Agreement in 2015.
This sparked criticism from environmental groups and climate activists.
Funding of SCO litigation on Linux
RBC invested in
SCO Group
The SCO Group (often referred to SCO and later called The TSG Group) was an American software company in existence from 2002 to 2012 that became known for owning Unix operating system assets that had belonged to the Santa Cruz Operation (the ...
during the series of court cases seeking to
collect royalties from the users of Linux.
Investor protection
In 2014, the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined RBC $35,000,000 for engaging in more than 1,000 wash sales, fictitious sales, and other non-competitive practices over a three year period.
Mismarking
In 2007, the Royal Bank of Canada fired several traders in its corporate bond business, after another trader accused them of
mismarking Mismarking in securities valuation takes place when the value that is assigned to securities does not reflect what the securities are actually worth, due to intentional fraudulent mispricing. Mismarking misleads investors and fund executives abou ...
bonds the bank held by overpricing them, and marked down the values of the bonds and recognized $13 million of trading losses relating to the bonds.
The bank said it investigated the accusations, and took remedial action.
''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' noted: "traders might have an incentive to boost
he bonds'prices because it could have an impact on their bonuses."
Temporary foreign workers and Canadian layoffs
In April 2013, the
CBC reported that the Royal Bank of Canada was indirectly hiring
temporary foreign workers to replace 45 Canadian
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
workers.
The CBC reported on May 7, 2013, that during
Question Period
Question Period (french: période des questions), known officially as Oral Questions (french: questions orales) occurs each sitting day in the House of Commons of Canada, in which members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (i ...
in Parliament the
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
leveled accusations against the government and then Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, to which he responded that the government has been working on problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for more than a year.
Memberships
RBC is a member of the
Canadian Bankers Association
The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA; french: Association des banquiers canadiens) is a trade association and lobby group representing Canadian banks. Its over 60 members include Canada's Big Five banks, smaller domestic banks, and Canadian subs ...
and is a registered member with the
Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC; french: Société d'assurance-dépôts du Canada) is a Canadian federal Crown Corporation created by Parliament in 1967 to provide deposit insurance to depositors in Canadian commercial banks and ...
, a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks.
It is also a member of:
*
CarIFS ATM Network
*
Interac
Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transf ...
*
Mastercard (in Canadian and Caribbean markets)
*
NYCE
The New York Currency Exchange (NYCE) is an interbank network connecting the ATMs of various financial institutions in the United States and Canada. NYCE also serves as an EFTPOS network for NYCE-linked ATM cards.
NYCE is based in Secaucus, N ...
point of sale Network
*
Plus Network
*
Global Banking Alliance for Women
See also
*
Big Five (banks)
Big Five is the name colloquially given to the five largest banks that dominate the banking industry of Canada: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and ...
*
List of banks and credit unions in Canada
This is a list of banks in Canada, including chartered banks, credit unions, trusts, and other financial services companies that offer banking services and may be popularly referred to as "banks".
The "Big Five"
Canada's "big five" banks, ...
*
List of banks in the Americas
This is a list of the banks in the Americas.
Largest banks in the Americas
The 15 largest banks in the Americas by total assets, as of 2019.
Argentina
See :Banks of Argentina
Bahamas
Central bank
*Central Bank of The Bahamas
Government-ow ...
*
List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities
Investors in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC lost billions of dollars in the Madoff investment scandal, a Ponzi scheme fraud conducted by Bernard Madoff. The amount missing from client accounts, over two thirds of which were fabricat ...
*
List of largest banks
The following are lists of the largest banks in the world, as measured by total assets.
By total assets
The list is based on the April 2022 S&P Global Market Intelligence report of the 100 largest banks in the world. The ranking was based upon a ...
Notes
References
Works cited
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{authority control, state=expanded
1864 establishments in Nova Scotia
Banks established in 1864
Banks of Canada
Banks of the Caribbean
Canadian brands
Companies based in Toronto
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Mortgage lenders of Canada
Multinational companies headquartered in Canada
Outsourcing in Canada
S&P/TSX 60
Systemically important financial institutions