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29-575: Built in 1998 on land given by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber, the arena was originally named the Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena and Convention Center. In 2000, the naming rights were sold to First Union Bank , becoming First Union Arena, until the summer of 2003, when First Union Bank merged into Wachovia , at which point it became Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. On January 20, 2010,

58-501: A corporate reorganization in 1968, a predecessor of First Union National Bank and First Union Mortgage Corporation, the mortgage banking firm acquired in 1964 became subsidiaries of First Union Corp creating the structure the bank utilized until the 2001 merger. Starting in 1985, with the Supreme Court decision upholding regional interstate banking legislation, First Union focused on an aggressive growth strategy. From 1985 through

87-502: A preseason game at the arena. George W. Bush held a rally for re-election to the office of the president at the arena in 2004. The arena has hosted multiple Donald Trump events, with the first being a rally on April 25, 2016, during his run in the 2016 election. He held another rally on October 10, 2016. Trump later returned as president on August 2, 2018, to assist in Lou Barletta's campaign for Senate. On September 3, 2022,

116-504: A specialist in home equity loans known for its commercials featuring Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizutto and pitcher Jim Palmer . Two years later, it closed the unit, writing off $ 1.7 billion in losses. On April 16, 2001, First Union announced it would merge with Wachovia. This was viewed with great surprise by the financial press and security analysts. While Wachovia had been viewed as an acquisition candidate after running into problems with earnings and credit quality in 2000,

145-669: A streak of 90 consecutive sellouts between March 2002 and October 2004, and 54 from December 2000 to February 2002. Other than Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey games, other events that occur at the arena include circus performances, an annual Christmas -time Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance, professional ice-skating shows, Harlem Globetrotters , Monster Jam , and the annual graduation ceremonies for nearby Crestwood High School, Penn Foster High School, King's College , University of Scranton , Luzerne County Community College, and Marywood University . The arena has regularly hosted professional wrestling since 2000. The first event

174-474: A tax free basis, borrow money, acquire other banks and non-bank entities more easily, and issue stock with greater regulatory ease. It also has a greater legal authority to conduct share repurchases of its own stock. The downside includes responding to additional regulatory authorities, especially if there are more than 2,000 shareholders (note: prior to the Jobs Act or Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act ,

203-701: The Bank of North America , the first bank chartered in the United States. Once the merger finalized, First Union claimed 1781 as its founding date. It continued to operate The Bank of North America's first branch at 6th and Chestnut streets in Philadelphia , which opened in 1782. It is now the longest continuously operated branch in the nation, and is part of Wells Fargo through multiple subsequent mergers. The acquisition of CoreStates brought problems. Many of these arose when First Union attempted to integrate

232-611: The North American Lacrosse League , but the league subsequently folded. The Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza has been recognized by many entertainment magazines as one of the best in the country for arenas under 10,000 in capacity, especially for its attendance and ease of show setup and teardown. The Penguins hold the American Hockey League record for most sellouts in a season, selling out all 40 home games in 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, and ran

261-930: The 55-story First Union Financial Center in downtown Miami became the Wachovia Financial Center . The merger also affected the names of the indoor professional sports arenas in Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania . Formerly known as the First Union Center and the First Union Spectrum, both in Philadelphia, and First Union Arena in Wilkes-Barre, they became the Wachovia Center , Wachovia Spectrum , and Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza , respectively. In 2010, following Wachovia's merger into Wells Fargo ,

290-710: The CoreStates and First Union computer systems too rapidly. Initially, CoreStates’ tellers received insufficient training with the new First Union systems and the two systems were unable to communicate with each other. This led to problems with account access and payments not correctly applied to loans. First Union acquired Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. on April 30, 1998 adding to its merger and acquisition , high yield , leveraged finance , equity underwriting , private placement , loan syndication , risk management , and public finance capabilities. On June 30, 1998, First Union paid $ 2.1 billion for The Money Store ,

319-637: The First Union deal, rejecting SunTrust's attempts to elect a new board of directors for Wachovia and ending SunTrust's hostile takeover attempt. Another issue concerned each bank's credit card division. In April 2001, Wachovia agreed to sell its $ 8 billion credit card portfolio to Bank One . The cards, which would have still been branded as Wachovia, would have been issued through Bank One's First USA division. First Union sold its credit card portfolio to MBNA in August 2000. After entering into negotiations,

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348-649: The First Union systems, now using the Wachovia name. The company first began converting systems in the southeast United States, where both banks had branches, before moving to the Northeast, where First Union branches only had to change their signs to reflect the new company name and logo. This process ended on August 18, 2003, almost two years after the merger took place. When First Union bought Wachovia, Charlotte's One , Two , and Three First Union buildings became One, Two, and Three Wachovia Center (respectively), and

377-612: The Spectrum was demolished and the other venues became the Wells Fargo Center and the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. 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[oration] ) or bancorporation is often used to refer to these companies as well. In

406-856: The United States, a bank holding company , as provided by the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ( 12 U.S.C.   § 1841 et seq. ), is broadly defined as "any company that has control over a bank". All bank holding companies in the US are required to register with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System . The Federal Reserve Board of Governors , under Regulation Y ( 12 CFR 225 ) has responsibility for regulating and supervising bank holding company activities, such as establishing capital standards , approving mergers and acquisitions and inspecting

435-828: The arena became Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza as part of a 10-year naming rights contract with the Mohegan Pennsylvania racetrack and casino. It has been home to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL since 1999, and the former home of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers of the AF2 League. In 2012, there were plans for it to be the home indoor arena for the Pennsylvania Shamrocks of

464-481: The bank added Cameron-Brown company, a mortgage banking and insurance firm. First Union Corporation was incorporated in 1967. In February 1968, Cameron-Brown Co., a $ 10 billion mortgage banker created in 1955 from the merger of Fidelity Bond & Mortgage Co. started in 1946 in Raleigh and Brown-Hamel Mortgage Co. of Greensboro , changed its name to First Union Mortgage Corp. to match its parent company. As part of

493-625: The deal appeal to investors, SunTrust argued that it would provide a smoother transition than First Union and offered a higher cash price for Wachovia stock than First Union. Wachovia's board of directors rejected SunTrust's offer and supported the merger with First Union. SunTrust continued its hostile takeover attempt, leading to a bitter battle over the summer between SunTrust and First Union. Both banks increased their offers for Wachovia, took out newspaper ads, mailed letters to shareholders, and initiated court battles to challenge each other's takeover bids. On August 3, 2001, Wachovia shareholders approved

522-840: The former President held a rally for the 2022 midterms. On August 17, 2024, Donald Trump held another rally there for the 2024 presidential election. 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, investment banking (First Union Securities), investment advisory, home equity lending, asset-based lending, leasing, insurance, international and securities brokerage services and private equity through First Union Capital Partners , and through other subsidiaries. In September 2001, First Union completed their acquisition of Wachovia National Bank to become Wachovia Corporation , which used to be one of

551-652: The largest financial holding companies in the U.S. As of the end of 2000, First Union had over $ 171 billion of total assets, over 70,000 employees and 2,193 branches. After their acquisition of Wachovia, they assumed the name and stock ticket symbol of the latter company. First Union Corporation was founded as Union National Bank on June 2, 1908, a small banking desk in the lobby of a hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina , by H. M. Victor. The bank merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville in 1958 to become First Union National Bank of North Carolina. In 1964,

580-512: The loss of stature from losing a major corporate headquarters. First Union was concerned by the potential deposit attrition and customer loss in the city. First Union responded to these concerns by placing the wealth management and Carolinas-region headquarters in Winston-Salem. On May 14, 2001, SunTrust announced a rival takeover bid for Wachovia, the first hostile takeover attempt in the banking sector in many years. In its effort to make

609-590: The majority of financial institution assets in South Carolina, something that had never happened in any state since regional banking began in 1986. In 1995, First Union acquired First Fidelity of Newark, New Jersey to expand to the Northeast . In April 1998, First Union acquired CoreStates Financial Corporation , headquartered in Philadelphia . At the time, this was the largest merger in U.S. banking history. CoreStates traced its history to 1781 and

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638-612: The merger with Wachovia in 2001, First Union completed over 90 banking-related acquisitions, 50 of which were completed between 1985 and 1995. Atlantic National Bank in Jacksonville, Florida , merged with First Union in 1985. In a deal announced in June 1992, First Union acquired South Carolina Federal Corp., making First Union the third largest bank in South Carolina by deposits, but also giving North Carolina-based banks

667-523: The new Wachovia agreed to buy back its portfolio from Bank One in September 2001 and resell it to MBNA. Wachovia paid Bank One a $ 350 million termination fee . On September 4, 2001, First Union officially completed its purchase of Wachovia National Bank to formally become the newly named Wachovia Corporation. In order to prevent a repeat of the CoreStates problems, the new Wachovia phased the conversion of legacy Wachovia National Bank computer systems into

696-665: The operations of such companies. This authority applies even though a bank owned by a holding company may be under the primary supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . Becoming a bank holding company makes it easier for the firm to raise capital than as a traditional bank. The holding company can assume debt of shareholders on

725-470: The return of The Undertaker. Some notable concerts include AC/DC , Bob Dylan , The Dead , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Foo Fighters , Elton John , Cher , and The Eagles . Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed its last elephant show in its "Red" tour on May 1, 2016, a year before the circus itself closed. On October 9, 2003, the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets played

754-556: The shareholder number was 300), at which point the bank holding company is forced to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission . There are also added expenses of operating with an extra layer of administration. As a result of the 2007–2008 financial crisis , many traditional investment banks and finance corporations such as Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , American Express , CIT Group and GMAC (now Ally Financial ) converted to bank holding companies to gain access to

783-432: The suitor shocked analysts as many speculated that Wachovia would be sold to Atlanta-based SunTrust . As an important part of the deal, while First Union was the nominal survivor, the merged company would assume the Wachovia name and stock ticker symbol (though it retained First Union's pre-2001 stock price history). Analysts said this move was most likely to help First Union acquire a new identity, as Wachovia's reputation

812-484: Was WCW Monday Nitro on January 31, 2000. The first WWE live event was on July 16, 2000 and headlined by The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle . The arena also hosted the 2007 WWE Draft on June 11, 2007 which was the final WWE Monday Night Raw appearance for the late Chris Benoit . This was also the site of the Mr. McMahon limo explosion angle. On November 15, 2016, the arena hosted the 900th episode of WWE Smackdown which saw

841-570: Was far better with consumers than First Union. At the same time, Wachovia's name and corporate identity would survive. The deal met with skepticism and criticism. Analysts, remembering the problems with the CoreStates acquisition, were concerned First Union's ability to merge with another large company. Winston-Salem's citizens and politicians suffered a blow to their civic pride because the merged company would be based in Charlotte, home to First Union. City leaders were concerned both by job losses and

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