Hibernia National Bank was a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

headquartered in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. The bank was the primary subsidiary of Hibernia Corporation, a

bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well. United States ...

. In November 2005, the bank was acquired by

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...

. Hibernia is the classical

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The logo of the bank included a

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, the national symbol of Ireland.

History

In April 1870, three Irish-American businessmen co-founded the Hibernia Bank & Trust Company in New Orleans. Patrick Irwin was named the first President, Hugh McCloskey, the first Vice-President, and Thomas Fitzwilliam, first Secretary. In September 1870, the bank began operations. In 1973, the board of directors hired 38-year-old Martin C. Miler, formerly an executive at

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

, to be the bank's president and chairman. In 1975, the Louisiana legislature approved multi-parish banking. By 1983, Hibernia grew to be the largest bank in the state in terms of assets. Despite its operations in Louisiana, the bank never lent heavily to the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

. In 1989, the bank entered Texas via the acquisition of First State Bank of Pflugerville, which was shut down by regulators as a result of

bank failure A bank failure occurs when a bank is unable to meet its obligations to its depositors or other creditors because it has become insolvent or too illiquid to meet its liabilities. A bank usually fails economically when the market value of its assets ...

. In 1990, the bank acquired BancTexas after it also failed. The bank had positive growth every quarter from 1973 to 1990; however, in 1990, as a result of the savings and loan crisis, the bank reported a loss, eliminated its

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...

and needed capital. In 1991, Martin Miler retired. In 1992, the company sold its operations in Texas to

Comerica Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helpin ...

for $63.1 million in cash. The company also recapitalized by giving Chase Manhattan Bank a majority ownership stake in the company in exchange for debt forgiveness. In 2000, the company entered the insurance business with the acquisition of The Rosenthal Agency. In 2003, the company re-entered the Texas market with the acquisition of Coastal Bancorp. The company also announced plans to open additional branches in Texas. In November 2005,

acquired the company. The acquisition price was re-negotiated downward after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

struck New Orleans.

References

{{Reflist, 1 Banks established in 1870 Defunct companies based in Louisiana Defunct banks of the United States Capital One 2005 mergers and acquisitions