The Standard Bank was a British overseas bank, which operated mainly in Africa from 1863 to 1969. It merged with the

Chartered Bank The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (informally The Chartered Bank) was a bank incorporated in London in 1853 by Scotsman James Wilson, under a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria.

in 1969 to form Standard Chartered.

History

The bank was incorporated in London on 15 October 1862 as Standard Bank of British South Africa. It was formed by a group of South African businessmen led by John Paterson. The bank started operations in 1863 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, and soon after opening it merged with several other banks including the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth, the

Colesberg Bank Colesberg Bank was a South African bank established in 1861 and acquired by Standard Bank in 1863. Formation The decision to establish the Colesberg Bank was taken at a public meeting held on 28 December 1860 at Colesberg. Mr. L.J. von Maltitz ...

, the

British Kaffraria British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as Qonce and East London. It was also called Queen Adelaide's Province. The British Kaffraria was establis ...

n Bank and the Fauresmith Bank. It was prominent in financing and development of the diamond fields of Kimberley in 1867. In reflection to the growth of its branch network and expansion outside British controlled regions, the bank dropped the word "British" from its title and adopted the name Standard Bank of South Africa Limited in 1881. When

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

was discovered on the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

, the bank expanded northwards and on 11 October 1886 the bank started doing business in a tent at

Ferreira's Camp Ferreirasdorp (or Ferreirastown) is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. First known as Ferreira's Camp ( af, Ferreiraskamp) and later Ferreira's Township, ...

(later to be called

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

), thus becoming the first bank to open a branch on the Witwatersrand gold fields. It opened a second Johannesburg branch on 1 November 1901 along Eloff Street. From the 1890s through the 1910s the bank opened offices across Africa, although some of them were unsustainable and subsequently had to be closed. In 1912 it opened a branch in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1920 it bought out the

African Banking Corporation The African Banking Corporation was a British overseas bank; its headquarters were in London but all its branches were overseas. Unusually, it was a consortium bank (i.e., other banks jointly owned it), rather than being owned by individuals. It op ...

. By the mid-1950s, Standard Bank had around 600 offices in Africa. In 1962, the bank was renamed Standard Bank Limited, and a subsidiary was registered in South Africa under the parent bank's previous name,

Standard Bank of South Africa Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. History ...

. In 1965, Standard Bank merged with the

Bank of West Africa Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) was a British Overseas bank that was important in introducing modern banking into the countries that emerged from the UK's West African colonies. In 1957 it changed its name to Bank of West Africa, and in 1965 wa ...

expanding its operations into

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

Merger

In 1969 the Standard Bank merged with Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China and the combined bank became known as

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...

Subsequent use of name

In South Africa the Standard Bank Investment Corporation (now

Standard Bank Group Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. History ...

) was established as the holding company of The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited. Standard Chartered sold its remaining 39% stake in Standard Bank Group in 1987, and the two banking groups are now under quite separate ownership. Today, the Standard Bank name is used by the South African group, which has expanded outside South Africa, including forming a subsidiary in the United Kingdom known as Standard Bank London. The original 1862 company changed its name in 1985 from Standard Bank PLC to Standard Chartered Bank Africa PLC, and is now named Standard Chartered Africa Ltd.Companies House Webcheck
Company Number 2877

References

External links

{{Standard Chartered British overseas banks Standard Chartered Banks established in 1862 1862 establishments in England 1969 disestablishments in England Banks disestablished in 1969 British companies established in 1862 British companies disestablished in 1969