COMPANY·HISTORIES
SIC 6211

Security Brokers and Dealers

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

35companies1847–1996founding years35still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedBoatmen's Bancshares Inc.
1847
FoundedThe St. Paul Companies, Inc.
1853
FoundedHSBC Holdings plc
1865
FoundedGruntal & Co., L.L.C.
1880
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedInter-Regional Financial Group, Inc.
1909
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedNomura Securities Company, Limited
1925
FoundedBayBanks, Inc.
1928
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
FoundedSBC Warburg
1934
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedBanco Itaú S.A.
1944
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedSociety Corporation
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
FoundedMerrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
1959
FoundedSignet Banking Corporation
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedPiper Jaffray Companies Inc.
1969
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
FoundedThe Charles Schwab Corporation
1974
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
FoundedNew Street Capital Inc.
1976
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
FoundedPulsar Internacional S.A.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedShearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
1983
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
FoundedBank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd.
1996
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. →
Active · founded 1847
Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.
The St. Paul Companies, Inc. →
Active · founded 1853
The St.
Grupo Financiero Serfin, S.A. →
Active · founded 1864 · Mexico
Grupo Financiero Serfin, S.A.
HSBC Holdings plc →
Active · founded 1865 · United Kingdom
A significant force in international banking, HSBC Holdings plc (also referred to as the HSBC Group) operates in some…
The Royal Bank of Canada →
Active · founded 1869 · Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution.
Gruntal & Co., L.L.C. →
Active · founded 1880
Gruntal & Co., L.L.C.
The John Nuveen Company →
Active · founded 1898
A longtime operator in the investment industry, The John Nuveen Company concentrates on the sponsorship, marketing, and…
Inter-Regional Financial Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1909
Inter-Regional Financial Group, Inc.
ConAgra, Inc. →
Active · founded 1919
In 1919 Alva Kinney brought four grain milling companies in south central Nebraska together to take advantage of…
Nomura Securities Company, Limited →
Active · founded 1925 · Japan
The Nomura Securities Company, the largest securities firm in Japan, has long been recognized as an industry pacesetter.
The Yasuda Trust and Banking Company, Limited →
Active · founded 1925 · Japan
Since establishing its first overseas branch some two decades ago, Yasuda Trust and its subsidiaries have been actively…
BayBanks, Inc. →
Active · founded 1928
BayBanks, Inc., is one of the largest and most successful bank holding companies in New England.
The Sanwa Bank, Ltd. →
Active · founded 1933 · Japan
The Sanwa Bank, Ltd.
SBC Warburg →
Active · founded 1934 · England
Founded by Siegmund Warburg, a scion of a German banking dynasty, SBC Warburg was established as a mutual aid society…
Banco Bradesco S.A. →
Active · founded 1943 · Brazil
Headquartered in a suburb of São Paulo, Brazil, Banco Bradesco S.A.
Banco Itaú S.A. →
Active · founded 1944 · Brazil
Headquartered in Brazil's financial capital of Sao Paulo, Banco Itaú S.A.
The Nikko Securities Company Limited →
Active · founded 1944 · Japan
The Nikko Securities Company Limited is one of the largest securities companies in the world, and--along with Daiwa…
Society Corporation →
Active · founded 1958
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Society Corporation is one of the fastest-growing and most innovative bank holding…
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. →
Active · founded 1959
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1959
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Jefferies Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1962
Jefferies Group, Inc.
Signet Banking Corporation →
Active · founded 1962
Signet Banking Corporation is a registered multi-bank, multi-state holding company with 24-hour telebanking, 240…
Smith Barney Inc. →
Active · founded 1964
From its unprepossessing beginnings in Philadelphia more than a century ago, Smith Barney has grown into a financial…
Piper Jaffray Companies Inc. →
Active · founded 1969
Through three wholly owned subsidiaries, Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray Companies Inc.
PaineWebber Group Inc. →
Active · founded 1970
PaineWebber Group Inc.
The Charles Schwab Corporation →
Active · founded 1974
The Charles Schwab Corporation, through its operating subsidiary Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., is the largest discount…
The Quick & Reilly Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1974
The Quick & Reilly Group, Inc.
New Street Capital Inc. →
Active · founded 1976
Since its incorporation in 1976, Drexel Burnham Lambert Incorporated (reorganized as New Street Capital Inc.), once a…
Waterhouse Investor Services, Inc. →
Active · founded 1979
Waterhouse Investor Services, Inc.
Pulsar Internacional S.A. →
Active · founded 1981 · Mexico 66265
Pulsar Internacional S.A.
Salomon Inc. →
Active · founded 1981
Salomon Inc.
Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. →
Active · founded 1983
Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Bank Austria AG →
Active · founded 1991 · Austria
With over one-fifth of the nation's banking business, Bank Austria AG is Austria's largest and most profitable banking…
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. →
Active · founded 1996 · Japan
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., the world's largest bank, was formed in April 1996 from the merger of The Mitsubishi…
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. →
Active · founded 1996 · Japan
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., the world's largest bank, was formed in April 1996 from the merger of The Mitsubishi…
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