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53-518: Wachovia is a bank and a subsidiary of Wells Fargo. Wachovia or Wachovia Building may also refer to: Wachovia The acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo was completed on December 31, 2008, after a government-forced sale to avoid Wachovia's failure. The Wachovia brand was absorbed into the Wells Fargo brand in a process that lasted three years. On October 15, 2011, the final Wachovia branches were converted to Wells Fargo. Wachovia

106-404: A last will and testament . The responsibilities of an executor in settling the estate of a deceased person include collecting debts , settling claims for debt and taxes , accounting for assets to the courts and distributing wealth to beneficiaries. Estate planning is usually also offered to allow clients to structure their affairs so as to minimize inheritance taxes and probate costs. In

159-616: A "near"-bank status which situates them legally very close to the US savings and loan associations , UK building societies or other non-bank deposit-taking institutions such as credit unions . According to the Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions , "trust and loan companies are financial institutions that operate under either provincial or federal legislation and conduct activities similar to those of

212-579: A "silent run". Ultimately, Wachovia lost a total of $ 5 billion in deposits that day—about one percent of the bank's total deposits. The large outflow of deposits attracted the attention of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency , which regulates national banks. Federal regulators pressured Wachovia to put itself up for sale over the weekend. Had Wachovia failed, it would have been a severe drain on

265-513: A bank". Deposits and GICs are insured by the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation in the same manner as bank deposits. While Canadian trust and loan companies nominally cannot accept retail deposits or issue debentures , they may receive money on deposit in trust, repayable on demand or after notice. As no statute prevents the companies from according chequing privileges to their depositors, effectively

318-943: 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 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 complication concerned each bank's credit card division. In April 2001, Wachovia had 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 had sold its credit card portfolio to MBNA in August 2000. After entering into negotiations,

371-586: A blow to their civic pride because the merged company would be based in Charlotte. The city of Winston-Salem was concerned both by job losses and 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

424-495: A competitor. In late 2005 Wachovia announced that it would end its relationship with MBNA and create its own credit card division so that the bank could issue its own Visa cards. Westcorp, Western Financial Bank's parent company, WFS Financial Inc. and Wachovia announced a proposed acquisition by Wachovia in September 2005. Westcorp and WFS Financial Inc. shareholders approved the acquisition on Jan. 6, 2006 and on March 1, 2006,

477-504: A failure dwarfing that of WaMu. Trust company A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary , trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm , and which specializes in being a trustee of various kinds of trusts. The "trust" name refers to the ability to act as a trustee – someone who administers financial assets on behalf of another. The assets are typically held in

530-724: A major player in the Northeast. Its Northeastern footprint grew even larger in 1998, when it acquired CoreStates Financial Corporation of Philadelphia . One of CoreStates' predecessors, the Bank of North America , had been the first bank proposed, chartered and incorporated in America on December 31, 1781. A former Bank of North America branch in Philadelphia remains in operation today as a Wells Fargo branch Wachovia Corporation began on June 16, 1879, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as

583-473: A national bank and comprehensive financial services company. Merchandise While First Union was merging into Wachovia, they changed the Wachovia logo to a square with wave like lines, the green color represents First Union while the blue represents the main company. They have also released new merchandise such as t-shirts, and provided other things such as retractable keychains, cups, and coffee mugs to show

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636-448: A part of the interest owed, which was then added onto the balance of the loan. In 2006, Golden West Financial was named the "Most Admired Company" in the mortgage services business by Fortune magazine . By the time Wachovia announced its acquisition, Golden West had over $ 125 billion in assets and 11,600 employees. By October 2, 2006, Wachovia had closed the acquisition of Golden West Financial Corporation. The Sandlers agreed to remain on

689-531: A portfolio of over $ 50 billion of securities on loan to the Wachovia Global Securities Lending division. On November 1, 2004, Wachovia completed the acquisition of Birmingham, Alabama -based SouthTrust Corporation , a transaction valued at $ 14.3 billion. The merger created the largest bank in the southeast United States, the fourth largest bank in terms of holdings, and the second largest in terms of number of branches. Integration

742-466: A rival takeover bid for Wachovia, the first hostile takeover attempt in the banking sector in many years. In its effort to make 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

795-578: A small banking desk in the lobby of a Charlotte hotel by H.M. Victor. The bank merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville, North Carolina , in 1958 to become First Union National Bank of North Carolina. First Union Corporation was incorporated in 1967. By the 1990s, it had grown into a Southern regional powerhouse in a strategy mirroring its longtime rival on Tryon Street in Charlotte, NCNB (later NationsBank and now Bank of America ). In 1995, however, it acquired First Fidelity Bancorporation of Newark, New Jersey ; at one stroke becoming

848-425: A step that some regulators frowned upon, and which the former World Savings management had resisted for years: it allowed borrowers to make monthly payments with an annual interest rate of just 1 percent. While Wachovia Mortgage continued to scrutinize borrowers' ability to manage increased payments, the move to rock-bottom rates lured customers whose financial reliability was more difficult to verify. More than 70% of

901-697: The Latin form of the Austrian name Wachau . When Moravian settlers arrived in Bethabara, North Carolina , in 1753, they gave this name to the land they acquired, because it resembled the Wachau valley along the Danube River . The area formerly known as Wachovia now makes up most of Forsyth County , and the largest city is now Winston-Salem. First Union was founded as Union National Bank on June 2, 1908,

954-822: 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 Philadelphia) and First Union Arena (Wilkes-Barre), they were renamed the Wachovia Center (now known as Wells Fargo Center ), Wachovia Spectrum (which was later demolished), and Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza (now known as Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza ), respectively. A graphic illustration of

1007-521: The A.G. Edwards brand in favor of a unified Wachovia Securities . Wachovia, excluding subsidiaries, was the fourth largest bank at the end of 2008. Exposed to risky loans, such as adjustable rate mortgages acquired during the acquisition of Golden West Financial in 2006, Wachovia began to experience heavy losses in its loan portfolios during the subprime mortgage crisis . In the first quarter of 2007, Wachovia reported $ 2.3 billion in earnings, including acquisitions and divestitures. However, in

1060-767: The FDIC's insurance fund due to its size (it operated one of the largest branch networks on the East Coast). As business halted for the weekend, Wachovia was already in FDIC-brokered talks with Citigroup and Wells Fargo ; the latter company initially emerged as the frontrunner to acquire the ailing Wachovia's banking operations. Wells Fargo originally backed out of this particular deal due to concerns over Wachovia's commercial loans. With no deal in place as September 28 dawned, regulators were concerned that Wachovia would not have enough short-term funding to open for business

1113-561: The Pick-A-Pay loans were made in California, Florida and Arizona, where home prices had declined severely. In 2009 New York Times reporter Floyd Norris called World Savings a "ticking timebomb" that created "zombie homeowners". While Wachovia Chairman and CEO G. Kennedy "Ken" Thompson had described Golden West as a "crown jewel", investors did not react positively to the deal. Analysts said that Wachovia purchased Golden West at

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1166-520: The United States, one of the primary profit centers for a trust company is commissions earned from selling various types of insurance products designed to minimize the estate tax charged to a person. A trust officer may provide guardian and conservator services, acting as guardian of a minor's property until adulthood or as conservator of the estate of an adult unable to handle his or her own finances. Some trust companies are formed not merely for

1219-554: The Wachovia National Bank. The bank was co-founded by James Alexander Gray and William Lemly. In 1911, the bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust Company , "the largest trust company between Baltimore and New Orleans ", which had been founded on June 15, 1893. Wachovia grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast partly on the strength of its accounts from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company , which

1272-751: The Wachovia Securities brand, while its asset management group operated under the Evergreen Investments brand until 2010, when the Evergreen fund family merged with Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, and institutional and high-net-worth products merged with Wells Capital Management and its affiliates. Wachovia's private equity arm operated as Wachovia Capital Partners . Additionally, the asset-based lending group operated as Wachovia Capital Finance. Wachovia ( / w ɑː ˈ k oʊ v i ə / wah- KOH -vee-ə ) has its origins in

1325-506: The World Savings loan portfolio. They noted that the creditworthiness of World Savings borrowers edged down from 2004 to 2006, while Pick-A-Pay borrowers had credit scores well below the industry average for traditional loans. World Savings lending volume dipped again in 2006 shortly after the sale to Wachovia was initiated. In 2007, after the merger, World Savings, then known as Wachovia Mortgage began to attract more borrowers by taking

1378-422: The acquisition and integration of World Savings Bank in 2007. Wachovia agreed to purchase Golden West Financial for a little under $ 25.5 billion on May 7, 2006. This acquisition gave Wachovia an additional 285-branch network spanning 10 states. Wachovia greatly raised its profile in California, where Golden West held $ 32 billion in deposits and operated 123 branches. Golden West, which operated branches under

1431-447: The benefit of a minor or an individual trustee, but for the preservation of nature or historic sites. A trust department provides investment management, including securities market advice, investment strategy and portfolio management , management of real estate and safekeeping of valuables. The trust company may also provide escrow services, invest education or retirement funds or hold 1031 Exchange proceeds where cash from

1484-403: The board at Wachovia. The Sandlers sold their firm at the top of the market, saying that they were growing older and wanted to devote themselves to philanthropy. A year earlier, in 2005, World Savings lending had started to slow, after more than quadrupling since 1998. Some current and former Wachovia officials said that the merger was agreed to within days, making it impossible to thoroughly vet

1537-417: The bondholders), and is the entity which monitors the company to ensure it is meeting covenants. In the event of the company's bankruptcy, the corporate trust company represents the interests of the bondholders and acts to recover as much of the loan proceeds as possible. In Canada, trust companies have historically provided many of the same services as the big-five banks . They are legally not banks, but hold

1590-430: The company monthly, and monitors the financial conditions of the company to ensure that it is meeting all its agreed upon conditions (for example, that its ratio of profits to expenses stays above a certain amount). However most large companies borrow money not from banks, but by selling bonds. When the company sells bonds, a corporate trust company can handle the acceptance of payments from the company (which it passes on to

1643-578: The company out of its difficulties. After Steel took over, he insisted that Wachovia would stay independent. However, its stock price plunged 27 percent on September 26 due to the seizure of Washington Mutual the previous night. On the same day, several businesses and institutional depositors withdrew money from their accounts in order to drop their balances below the $ 100,000 insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)—an event known in banking circles as

Wachovia (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1696-566: The company's major mergers, acquisitions, and historical predecessors, up to the 2001 merger of Wachovia and First Union: Union National Bank   (est. 1908) First National Bank & Trust CoreStates Financial   (dates to 1781) Wachovia National Bank  (Formerly: Bank of Salem )  (est. 1879) Wachovia Loan & Trust   (est. 1893) First Atlanta  (Formerly Atlanta National Bank)  (est. 1865) Between 2001 and 2006, Wachovia bought several other financial services companies in an attempt to become

1749-670: The few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta. In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc, giving its first entry into Florida . In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which

1802-584: 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, the suitor shocked analysts as many speculated that Wachovia would be sold to Atlanta-based SunTrust . The deal was met with skepticism and criticism. Analysts, remembering the problems with the CoreStates acquisition, were concerned about First Union's ability to merge with another large company. Winston-Salem's citizens and politicians suffered

1855-438: The form of a trust , a legal instrument that spells out who the beneficiaries are and what the money can be spent for. A trustee will manage investments, keep records, manage assets, prepare court accounting, pay bills (depending on the nature of the trust), medical expenses, charitable gifts, inheritances or other distributions of income and principal. A trust company can be named as an executor or personal representative in

1908-449: The major banks. Prominent examples include Canada Trust (founded 1864 as Huron and Erie Savings and Loan Society, acquired by Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2000), Montreal Trust Company (established 1889, acquired by Scotiabank in 1994), National Trust Company (established 1898, acquired by Scotiabank in 1997) and Royal Trust (founded 1892, bought by Royal Bank of Canada in 1993). A few small or captive trust and loan companies, such as

1961-506: The merger was completed. This acquisition made Wachovia the ninth largest auto finance lender in the competitive U.S. auto finance market and provided Wachovia with a small retail and commercial banking presence in Southern California . On February 12, 2007, the former 19 Western Financial Bank branches opened under the Wachovia name. These branches became the launching point for a much larger Wachovia presence in California with

2014-686: The name Wachovia Securities nationwide as well as in six Latin American countries, and investment banking clients in selected industries nationwide. In 2009, Wachovia Securities was the first Wachovia business to be converted to the Wells Fargo brand, when the business became Wells Fargo Advisors. Calibre was an independent consultant that was hired by Wachovia for the Family Wealth Group to research managers. The group no longer uses Calibre. The company's corporate and institutional capital markets and investment banking groups operated under

2067-490: The name World Savings Bank, was the second largest savings and loan in the United States. The business was a small savings and loan in the San Francisco Bay area when it was purchased in 1963 for $ 4 million by Herbert and Marion Sandler . Golden West specialized in option ARMs loans, marketed under the name "Pick-A-Pay." These loans gave the borrower a choice of payment plans, including the option to defer paying

2120-444: 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 and Wachovia officially merged. In order to prevent a repeat of the CoreStates problems, the new Wachovia gradually phased-in the conversion of legacy Wachovia computer systems to First Union systems. The company first began converting systems in

2173-440: The next day. In order to obtain enough liquidity to do business, banks usually depend on short-term loans to each other. However, the markets had been so battered by a credit crisis related to the housing bubble that banks were skittish about making such loans. Under the circumstances, regulators feared that if customers pulled out more money, Wachovia would not have enough liquidity to meet its obligations. This would have resulted in

Wachovia (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-485: The peak of the US housing boom. Wachovia Mortgage's mortgage-related problems led to Wachovia suffering writedowns and losses that far exceeded the price paid in the acquisition, ending up in the fire-sale of Wachovia to Wells Fargo . On May 31, 2007, Wachovia announced plans to purchase A. G. Edwards for $ 6.8 billion to create the United States' second largest retail brokerage firm. The acquisition closed on October 1, 2007. In early March 2008 Wachovia began to phase out

2279-442: The sale of US real estate is held in trust (for tax purposes) until used to buy replacement land. Trust companies may also perform corporate trust services. Corporate trust services are services which assist, in the fiduciary capacity, in the administration of the corporation's debt. For example, in a normal bank loan, the lender normally lends money to the company (usually with conditions called " covenants "), accepts payments from

2332-539: The second quarter of 2008, Wachovia reported a much larger than anticipated $ 8.9 billion loss. On June 2, 2008, Wachovia chief executive officer Ken Thompson was forced to retire. He had been head of the company since 2000, while it was still known as First Union . The board replaced him on an interim basis with Chairman Lanty Smith. Smith had already replaced Thompson as chairman a month earlier. On July 9, 2008, Wachovia hired Treasury Undersecretary Bob Steel as chief executive in hopes that his experience would lead

2385-512: The southeast United States where both banks had branches, before moving to First Union's branches in the Northeast, which only had to change their signs to reflect the new company name and logo. This process was completed on August 18, 2003, almost 2 years after the merger. In comparison to the CoreStates purchase, the acquisition of Wachovia by First Union was considered successful by analysts. The company's deliberate pace of conversion prevented any large-scale customer attrition . In fact, Wachovia

2438-712: The success during 2001 to its acquisition by Wells Fargo. Wachovia Securities and the Prudential Securities Division of Prudential Financial, Inc. combined to form Wachovia Securities LLC on July 1, 2003. Wachovia owned a controlling 62% stake, while Prudential Financial retained the remaining 38%. At the time, the new firm had client assets of $ 532.1 billion, making it the nation's third largest full service retail brokerage firm, based on assets. On October 22, 2003, Wachovia announced it would acquire Metropolitan West Securities, an affiliate company of Metropolitan West Financial . This acquisition added

2491-472: The trust companies are at liberty to receive monies which the depositor can treat much like bank savings or chequing accounts. The institution may then employ these assets (less a legally-required fractional reserve ) to issue secured loans , such as mortgages . Once a common feature on Canada's retail banking landscape, free-standing retail trust companies are disappearing; the largest institutions have increasingly fallen prey to consolidation and takeover by

2544-463: Was Republic Security Bank. On April 16, 2001, First Union announced it would acquire Wachovia, through the exchange of approximately $ 13.4 billion in First Union stock. First Union offered two of its shares for each Wachovia share outstanding. The announcement was made by Wachovia chairman L.M. "Bud" Baker Jr. and First Union chairman Ken Thompson . Baker would become chairman of the merged bank, while Thompson would become president and CEO. First Union

2597-506: Was also headquartered in Winston-Salem. As of December 31, 1964, Wachovia was the first bank in the Southeastern United States to exceed $ 1 billion in resources. On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of

2650-552: Was completed by the end of 2005. In June 2005, Wachovia negotiated to purchase monoline credit card company MBNA . However, the deal fell through when Wachovia balked at MBNA's purchase price. Within a week of the deal's collapse, MBNA entered into an agreement to be purchased by Wachovia's chief rival, Bank of America . Wachovia received $ 100 million as the result of an agreement Wachovia predecessor First Union made in 2000 when it sold its credit card portfolio to MBNA. This agreement required MBNA to pay this sum if it were ever sold to

2703-468: Was ranked number one in customer satisfaction among major banks by the University of Michigan 's annual American Customer Satisfaction Index for every year after the merger. When Wachovia and First Union merged, Charlotte's One , Two , and Three First Union buildings became One, Two, and Three Wachovia Center (respectively), and the 55-story First Union Financial Center in downtown Miami became

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2756-428: Was the acquiring party and nominal survivor, and the merged bank was based in Charlotte and adopted First Union's corporate structure and retained First Union's pre-2001 stock price history. However, as an important part of the merger, the merged bank took Wachovia's name and stock ticker symbol; despite First Union technically being the surviving identity and acquiring party. This merger was viewed with great surprise by

2809-638: Was the product of a 2001 merger between the original Wachovia Corporation, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , and Charlotte-based First Union Corporation . The company was organized into four divisions: General Bank (retail, small business, and commercial customers), Wealth Management (high-net-worth, personal trust, and insurance business), Capital Management (asset management, retirement, and retail brokerage services), and Corporate and Investment Bank (capital markets, investment banking, and financial advisory). It served retail brokerage clients under

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