Word: transamerica
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...Banker Giannini's move there were two explanations. His was simply that Bank of Oakland was a good bank with four branches and the best location in the busy East Bay City. It fitted naturally into Transamerica Corp.'s branch-banking setup. San Franciscans had another and more popular explanation: that was the bad blood between Banker Giannini and Arnold John Mount, broad-shouldered, bespectacled head of Bank of Oakland. The purchase was spite work. Snapped Lawrence Mario Giannini, swart, enigmatic heir apparent to his father's banking empire: "Ridiculous nonsense...
...somewhat recovered, reappeared in Manhattan, he was obliged to put a bold face on his troubles by announcing that he had picked Elisha Walker, head of the old, eminent and sage private banking house of Blair & Co. as his successor. Year later Giannini retired, making Mr. Walker chairman of Transamerica and Mr. Walker predicted a great future for branch banking, In 1931 Mr. Walker ruthlessly swept the remaining Gianninis from Transamerica's board of directors, proposed to sell the whole Giannini chain of banks because "there is no apparent likelihood that nation-wide branch banking will be authorized...
...this shocking challenge old "A. P." Giannini rose magnificently. A Trans-american stockholders' protective committee was formed in San Francisco. Giannini returned from retirement to lead it into a bitter proxy fight for control of Transamerica. After he had toured Italian colonies in California his friends and countrymen rallied to boot Mr. Walker and his friends and countrymen out of Transamerica...
...accepted the loss of his Manhattan bank, concentrated on bringing little Western banks into the fold of San Francisco's great Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association (with 447 California branches) and Portland's First National Bank (with 28 Oregon branches). Two years ago Transamerica edged eastward, bought up Reno, Nevada's First National Bank, made it the centre of a cluster of seven Nevada branches...
Strictly the Giannini system is not national branch banking, since each big bank confines its expansion to its own State. Transamerica functions not as a bank but as a holding company. Thus Transamerica keeps within the letter of the law of the 1935 Banking Act but cannot similarly invade most Eastern States where laws forbid State-wide branch banking. To unit (one-bank) bankers who violently oppose him as a financial monopolist, Banker Giannini says: "Under a unified banking system it will be possible to have the equivalent of an up-to-date central clearing house for the nation...