Bank of Sierra

Bank of Sierra Corporation
	Bank of Sierra Corporation Headquarters at the Transbay Tower in San Francisco City, San Francisco
Type	Public company
Traded as	PSE: BSC; Von Holt 100 component; Von Holt 500 component
Industry	Banking
Predecessor	Western Bank; Banc of Pacific
Founded	February 3, 1989; 35 years ago (via the merger between Western Bank and Banc of Pacific); 1862 (as Western Bank)
Headquarters	San Francisco City, San Francisco, Kingdom of Sierra
Number of locations	3,800 branches; 14,000 ATMs nationwide; 80 countries (2022)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Todd Kluwer; (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Financial services
Services	Asset management; banking; commodities; credit cards; equities trading; insurance; investment management; mortgage loans; mutual funds; private equity; risk management; wealth management;
Revenue	KS$93.11 billion (2022)
Net income	US$39.44 billion (2022)
Total assets	KS$3.3 trillion (2022)
Number of employees	222,444 (2022)
Website	bankofsierra.com

The Bank of Sierra Corporation (commonly referred to as Bank of Sierra; often abbreviated as BofS or BoS) is a Sierran multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in San Francisco City, San Francisco. The company was formed by the merger between Western Bank and Banc of Pacific in 1989. With offices and branchses in 80 countries, Bank of Sierra is the largest banking institution in the Kingdom of Sierra and Anglo-America; alongside Wells Fargo, Sutter Bank, and Hearst Huntington (collectively known as the "Big Four of Banking"). It is considered essential to the global financial system and has been identified by the Global Finances Institute as "too big to fail".

It is one of the largest credit card issuers and one of the largest lenders to a diversified portfolio of small businesses, middle-sized businesses, and start-up companies. It has been the primary bookrunner for a number of notable start-up companies including Bubbler, Webbox, and Zorro. Its large market share and influence over the international banking world has garnered attention and criticism to its lack of ethical standards, informal relationship with the Sierran government, and involvement with authoritarian regimes abroad. It has been criticized for its demanding work environment, rigid corporate structure, and high employee dissatisfaction. The Bank of Sierra has also been involved in a myriad of lawsuits ranging from allegations of providing fraudulent services to financing the fossil fuels industry.

As of August 2022, Bank of Sierra has a total market capitalization of KS$379.12 billion, placing it within the top 10 largest companies in the world. It has received a number of awards and accolades including "World's Best Bank" by Smart Money Watch.

History

The Bank of Sierra traces its origins to the foundation of its predecessor, Western Bank. Founded in 1862, Western Bank was based in San Francisco City. Its other predecessor, Banc of Pacific, was based in Sacramento, Tahoe and was founded two years later in 1864. The two banks were among the first banks to become federally chartered under the Kingdom of Sierra. Among Western Bank's inaugural board of directors included future Sierran prime minister Nicholas Calhoun. Western Bank initially focused its services on working-class Sierrans and immigrants, especially those from Southern Europe and Scandinavia. The Banc of Pacific meanwhile was largely controlled by the Merrick family. Father and son Benjamin and Ronald Merrick owned the majority of the shares in the firm and largely dictated its corporate practices and structure. Banc of Pacific became the favored bank for large business and industrialists by lending loans to a variety of industries that included railroads and shipbuilding. Both banks adopted the 19th century industry standards of refusing to do banking services for racial minorities such as the Asian Sierran population. Western Bank discontinued the discriminatory practices in 1904 in the eve of the Sierran Cultural Revolution.

In 1872, the Banc of Pacific became involved in investment banking after it entered the initial public offering market. It successfully took a number of companies public including Standard Pacific in 1903. The Banc of Pacific acquired Clark Mutual in 1906 while Western Bank was acquired by the Union Bank of San Diego, which absorbed the name of Western Bank. In 1924, Western Bank created the subsidiary company of Conception Insurance, which specialized in home insurance and car insurance.

Operations and management

Bank of Sierra derives more than 80% of its total revenues from the Anglo-American markets. It is composed of four main divisions: Consumer Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, Global Banking, Commercial Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management. It is headquartered in San Francisco City and has additional regional offices in Bernheim, Porciúncula, Fort Travis, Irvine, San Diego, and Phoenix. Its international headquarters include Manila and London.

Branch and office locations

Sierran

Bank of Sierra operates branches or ATMs in all Sierran PSAs and territories except the Hawaiian reservation states, the Pacific Crown Islands, Isles of Pines, Rapa Nui, and the Sierran Antarctic Territory.

Global

Services

Bank of Sierra offers both retail and commercial banking. Its clientele ranges from individuals and private households to institutional groups, organizations, and companies. It also offers investment banking, securities underwriting, asset management, investment management, and prime brokerage. It operates a number of real estate funds (including REITs), hedge funds, and private-equity funds. It brokers various securities, forex, commodities, equities, options, and futures. It is considered a primary dealer by the Royal Monetary Authority of Sierra and provides clearing and custodian bank services. Through its consumer division, it also offers credit cards, mortgage loans, and other services, and caters itself to middle class and professional class clientele.

Controversies and legal issues

Bank of Sierra's corporate practices have been criticized as unethical and manipulative. Its predecessors have been accused of facilitating transactions for dictatorial regimes (such as its financial assistance to Derzhavist Russia and Derzhavist France during the Great War). During the 1980s, the Bank of Sierra's predecessor, Banc of Pacific, was criticized for being the largest foreign creditor of the Antillean government which was being boycotted due to its longstanding history of racial segregation. It helped finance the Antillean real estate market, which was mainly accessible to White Antilleans, and also helped set up Amelia Abarough's Antilles Freedom Fund, a sovereign wealth fund.

The present-day Bank of Sierra has been accused of arbitrarily raising rates on consumers with good credit scores, withholding or closing accounts due to perceived political or social affiliations, investing in the fossil fuels industry and fundraising anti-climate change politicians, misleading investors with fabricated earnings reports, and illegally collecting insurance claims. In 2017, it paid over KS$1.1 billion in several multinational civil action lawsuits for discriminatory policies against racial minorities in the Kingdom of Sierra, Superior, and Astoria.

It has also received criticism for appearing as a revolving door with the Sierran government wherein its employees and consultants moved in between the firm and the government. The Bank of Sierra has been accused of being entrenched in the Sierran political establishment and responsible for encouraging corruption.

Political contributions

Due to federal regulations, senior executives and other high-ranking officers in the Bank of Sierra are prohibited from donating to provincial-level and local-level politicians and limited in donations to federal politicians. Bank of Sierra employees and consultants have primarily donated to the Kingdom's largest political parties: the Royalists, the Democratic-Republicans, and the Libertarians. In recent years, Bank of Sierra employees have also donated to the Christian Democrats and in some cases, the Social Democrats of Sierra. Its employees have also donated to the candidates and political action committees of the aforementioned parties. During the 2020 Sierran federal election, it collectively donated more than $280,000 to sitting prime minister Nemesis Heartwell and then $320,000 to Democratic-Republican party leader Maggie Chan in the 2021 Sierran federal election.

Philanthropy

The Bank of Sierra Foundation is a not-for-profit private foundation whose initiatives include donating to schools in struggling communities worldwide, supporting small businesses, fighting homelessness, and fighting world hunger. It is one of the world's largest corporate foundations and donates nearly $2 billion annually to a variety of services and programs through its work. It has helped sponsor the development and creation of schools in India, South Africa, Brazil, and Makassar. In 2017, in response to criticism of the Bank of Sierra's historic ties and involvement with the Sierran petroleum and coal industries, the Bank of Sierra Foundation started the Save the Earth Initiative to combat and curb the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

Bank of Sierra

Contents

History