M&T Bank

19th century In the mid-19th century, few banking options existed for the growing number of manufacturers in the city of Buffalo. As a result, businessmen Pascal Pratt and Bronson Rumsey founded M&T Bank in 1856 as "Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company". Henry Martin, former president of the Attica and Buffalo Railroad, was appointed the first president and assigned a salary of $1,000 a year. In 1885, Martin retired as president, at the age of 83, and was succeeded by Pascal Pratt, who had served as Vice President since the bank was formed. Following the 1925 merger with Fidelity Trust, the $100 million company was headed by Fidelity's President, 36-year-old Lewis G. Harriman. Harriman and a group of investors including A. H. Schoellkopf, from the founding family of the Niagara Mohawk power company, and James V. Forrestal, who would become the first U.S. Secretary of Defense, own enough shares to control both Fidelity and M&T. In 2012, the bank repaid $700 million of TARP funds. Fitts accepted a 1% transaction fee in exchange for not filing a currency transaction report. This violated the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. On December 16, 2017, non-executive chairman Robert T. Brady became acting chairman and CEO. On December 20, 2017, René F. Jones was appointed chairman and CEO. In 2021, M&T Bank contributed $33.9 million to over 3,000 nonprofit organizations across eight states and the District of Columbia. The bank has donated more than $279.4 million to nonprofits over the past decade, and over $437.5 million to nonprofits over the past two decades. In May 2022, M&T announced a $25 million initiative to support lower-income communities and underrepresented groups. The new Amplify Fund will be deployed over three years with most of the funds set to be distributed to Connecticut-based organizations and other north-eastern states where People’s United had operated. M&T announced that $9 to $11 million will be distributed by the end of 2022, with the rest of the funds to be distributed over the next two years and expects to fund approximately 60 to 70 organizations in the initiatives first phase. In August 2022, M&T announced a partnership with Stefon Diggs; Diggs served as a brand ambassador for M&T’s “Football Brings Us Together” campaign. In October 2022, M&T launched its Multicultural Banking Center in East Hartford, Connecticut; the bank has 118 multicultural locations. In 2022, M&T was listed as one of the Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index (DEI) for its fourth consecutive year. ==Mergers and acquisitions==

Between 1945 and 1966, M&T acquired 18 local banking institutions. 1920s • December 1925: merged with Fidelity Trust Company under the name Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company • December 1994: acquired $146 million in deposits from the Hudson Valley branches of Chemical Bank; and $470 million in assets and $339 million in deposits from Ithaca Bancorp of Ithaca, New York. • July 1995: acquired Hudson Valley branches of Chase Manhattan • January 1997: acquired Green Point Bank branches of Westchester, New York • June 1999: acquired First National Bank of Rochester • April 1998: acquired OnBank of Syracuse, New York • September 1999: acquired 29 Chase Bank Branches in Buffalo, Jamestown, and Binghamton New York. 2000s • October 2000: acquired Keystone Financial of Central Pennsylvania • February 2001: acquired Premier Nation Bancorp of Newburgh • April 2003: acquired Allfirst Bank of Baltimore, a subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks of Ireland, in exchange for 26.7 million shares of M&T and $886 million in cash. At the direction of Irish government financial regulators, AIB sold its 22% ownership interest in M&T in 2010. • June 2006: acquired 21 Citibank branches in Buffalo and Rochester • December 2007: acquired Partners Trust Financial Group, including 33 branches in upstate New York, for $555 million. • December 2007: acquired 12 First Horizon National Corporation branches in the greater Washington, D.C., and Baltimore markets. • May 2009: acquired Provident Bank of Maryland in a stock transaction. • August 2009: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized Bradford Bank and sold all its deposits and most assets to M&T. M&T and the FDIC agreed to share future losses on $338 million worth of Bradford's assets. 2010s • November 2010: acquired K Bank of Baltimore, Maryland • May 2011: acquired Wilmington Trust for $351 million in stock. • August 2012: M&T announced the acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp for $3.7 billion. The bank had $25 billion in deposits and $28 billion in loans and 135 brick-and-mortar branch locations including 97 in New Jersey. The acquisition was delayed for 3 years due to a money laundering case involving an M&T branch and the acquisition closed on November 2, 2015. 2020s • April 2022: acquired People's United Bank in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.3 billion. The acquisition was completed on April 2, 2022. ==References==