'''Grace National Bank''' was a [[bank]] headquartered in [[New York, New York]]. It was established as local private bank by [[W. R. Grace and Company]] in 1914 to concentrate on business done in [[South America]]. On June 19, 1924, the Grace National Bank became a nationally chartered financial institution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/06/20/archives/grace-national-bank-will-concentrate-its-activities-in-south.html|title=GRACE NATIONAL BANK.; Will Concentrate Its Activities In South America.|date=1924-06-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-16|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The bank operated from a head office in the Grace National Bank Building at 58-[[60 Water Street]].
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The founding president was J. Louis Schaefer, a vice-president at W. R. Grace and Company. He died in 1927 and was succeeded by Francis H. McKnight (1927-1933) then Chester R. Dewey. Other former presidents included [[Frank Comerford Walker]].
Grace National Bank lost clients and deposits during the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s but survived and began growing again in the post [[World War II]] era. In 1950, the bank earned the largest gross and net profit in its thirty-five-year history.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1951-01-10 |title='50 A RECORD YEAR AT GRACE NATIONAL; Bank Reports Largest Gross and Net Profits in 35 Years at Stockholders Meeting. Income Gain Was 18.22%. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/01/10/archives/50-a-record-year-at-grace-national-bank-reports-largest-gross-and.html |access-date=2017-03-19 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In the 1960s, the bank struggled with stiff competition from large operations and on August 10, 1965, the [[Federal Reserve Board of Governors]] gave its approval for the [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]] of Grace National Bank with the [[Marine Midland Bank]] (now [[HSBC Bank USA]]), with a vote of 6-1 from the Federal Reserve Board. The dissenting vote was from [[James Robertson (central banker)|James L. Robertson]], who had stated:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/08/11/archives/sale-of-the-grace-national-bank-approved-by-federal-reserve.html|title=Sale of the Grace National Bank Approved by Federal Reserve|date=1965-08-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-16|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><blockquote>I cannot accept the view that simply because Grace has in effect been labeled a limited service bank and Marine Midland a full service bank, there is no significant competition.</blockquote>
== References == {{Portal|Banks}} {{Reflist}} [[Category:Defunct banks of the United States]] [[Category:HSBC acquisitions]] [[Category:Banks disestablished in 1965]] [[Category:Banks established in 1914]] [[Category:Defunct companies based in New York (state)]] [[Category:1914 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:1965 disestablishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:W. R. Grace and Company]]
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