M&T Bank

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 Brownson Rumsey founded M&T Bank in 1856 as "Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company".[7] Henry Martin, former president of the Attica and Buffalo Railroad, is appointed the first president and assigned a salary of $1,000 a year.[8] The company opened its first office on August 29 of that year at 2 East Swan Street in Buffalo.[9] 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.[8]

In 1901, the bank builds a new headquarters on a site purchased for $210,000 near the southwest corner of Main and Swan Streets in Buffalo. The granite neo-classical building was designed by architect E. B. Green of Green & Wicks. By 1914, Robert Livingston Fryer was the bank's President. In 1917, Harry T. Ramsdell, the bank's fourth president, serves as a district chairman for a special subscription committee of the national Liberty Loan program.[8]

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.[8]

In 1961, M&T acquired an entire block on Main Street between North Division and Eagle Streets in downtown Buffalo and began plans for a $12 million skyscraper to become the bank's new headquarters. In 1963, architect Minoru Yamasaki, who as featured on the cover of Time magazine that year as he was designing the World Trade Center in New York City, was retained by M&T to design its new building in Buffalo, which was completed in 1967. In 1964, Charles W. Millard succeeded Harriman as chairman of M&T.[8]

In 1969, M&T's stockholders voted to create a multi-bank holding company known as First Empire State Corporation. In 1983, the bank which had assets of $2 billion and operated 60 offices, named Robert G. Wilmers as chairman and CEO, a position he held until his death in December 2017.[9] In 1995, First Empire formed a national bank subsidiary, M&T Bank, N.A.[8]

In 2008, M&T received a $600 million investment by the United States Treasury as a result of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and M&T assumed another $482 million in TARP obligations from its acquisitions.[10] In 2011, the bank repaid $700 million of TARP funds.[10]

On December 16, 2017, Robert Wilmers died and non-executive chairman Robert T. Brady became acting chairman and CEO.[11] On December 20, 2017, René F. Jones was appointed chairman and CEO.

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 3 years with most of the funds set to be distributed to Connecticut-based organisations and other north-eastern states where People’s United had operated. M&T announced that $9-$11 million will be distributed by the end of 2022, with the rest of the funds to be distributed over the next two year and expects to fund approximately 60-70 organisations in the initiatives first phase.[12]

• Dec. 1925: merged with Fidelity Trust Company under the name Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company[8]
• May 1927: acquired the People's Bank of Buffalo[8]

• Jun. 1945: acquires the First National Bank of Kenmore[8]
• Oct. 1945: acquires the Citizens National Bank of Lancaster[8]
• Dec. 1945: acquires the American Bank of Lackawanna[8]

• Dec. 1987: acquired East New York Savings, which operated 15 branches in metropolitan New York City[8]

• Jan. 1990: acquired $486 million in deposits and 11 offices in Rochester from Monroe Savings Bank of Rochester, New York[8]
• Sep. 1990: acquired $1.3 billion in deposits and 13 offices (9 in Buffalo and 4 in Rochester) of Empire of America Savings Bank of Buffalo [8]
• May 1991: acquired $2.1 billion in deposits and 14 branches of Goldome Bank of Buffalo[8]
• Jul. 1992: acquired $1.1 billion asset Central Trust of Rochester, New York and the $300 million asset Endicott Trust of Binghamton, New York.[14]
• Dec. 1994: acquired $146 million in deposits from the Hudson Valley branches of Chemical Bank; and $470 million in assets and $339 million in deposits Ithaca Bancorp of Ithaca, New York.
• Jul. 1995: Hudson Valley branches of Chase Manhattan
• Jan. 1997: Green Point Bank branches of Westchester, New York
• Jun. 1999: First National Bank of Rochester
• Apr. 1998: OnBank of Syracuse, New York[15]
• Sep. 1999: 29 Chase Bank Branches in Buffalo, Jamestown, and Binghamton[16]

• Oct. 2000: Keystone Financial of Central Pennsylvania[17]
• February 2001: Premier Nation Bancorp of Newburgh[18]
• Apr. 2003: 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.[19][20] At the direction of Irish government financial regulators, AIB sold its 22% ownership interest in M&T in 2010.[21]
• Jul. 2006: 21 Citibank branches in Buffalo and Rochester[22]
• Dec. 2007: Partners Trust Financial Group, including 33 branches in upstate New York, for $555 million.[23]
• Dec. 2007: 12 First Horizon National Corporation branches in the greater Washington D.C. and Baltimore markets.[24]
• May 2009: Provident Bank of Maryland in a stock transaction.[25]
• Aug. 2009: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized Bradford Bank and sold all its deposits and most assets to M&T.[26] M&T and the FDIC agreed to share future losses on $338 million worth of Bradford's assets.[27]

• May 2011: acquired Wilmington Trust for $351 million in stock.[28]
• Aug. 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.[29] 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.[30][31]

• February 2021: acquired People's United Bank in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $7.6 billion.[32][33][34] The acquisition was completed on April 2, 2022.[35]

In June 2014, a U.S. District Judge ordered M&T Bank to forfeit $560,000 in drug proceeds that had been laundered through its Perry Hall, Maryland, branch. At least 8 times from 2011 to 2013, Deanna Bailey, a drug dealer, went to the branch and had head teller Sabrina Fitts convert cash amounts from $20,000 to $100,000 into larger bills.[36] Fitts accepted a 1% transaction fee in exchange for not filing a currency transaction report. This violated the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 which requires all cash transactions of more than $10,000 to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.[37]

The acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp was delayed for more than 3 years by the Federal Reserve Board, which was unconvinced that the bank's anti-laundering controls were strong enough.[38][39]