Royal Trust (Canada)

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Not to be confused with Royal Bank of Canada or Royal Canadian Bank.
Royal Trust Company
TypeTrust company
Founded24 June 1892; 129 years ago (1892-06-24) in Montreal, Quebec
HeadquartersRBC Centre, 155 Wellington Street W.,
Toronto, Ontario

The Royal Trust Company is a Canadian trust company founded in 1892 in Montreal, Quebec. By the late 20th century, it carried on trust, financial, real-estate and deposit services in over 100 branches in Canada, the US and overseas.[1] In 1993, the company was bought by the Royal Bank of Canada.

History[]

The Royal Trust Company was founded in 1892 as the Royal Trust and Fidelity Company when on 24 June of that year its articles of incorporation were assented by the Parliament of Quebec. The founding members were Edward S. Clouston, J. Burnett, Frank Paul, George A. Drummond, Richard B. Angus, David Burke, C. G. Clouston, John Cassils, R. D. McGibbon, Louis-Joseph Forget, Charles R. Hosmer, James Ross, Herbert S. Holt, and D. Macmaster.[2] Of its charter board of 16 members, nine were members of the Bank of Montreal's board. The firm shared the premises of that Bank from 1895.[3] Donald Smith, who at the time presided over the Bank of Montreal, was the inaugural president of the Royal Trust.[4] In 1895 Royal Trust and Fidelity changed its name to the Royal Trust Company.

Royal Trust operated out of the Bank of Montreal Building until 1912. That year it moved into the new Royal Trust Building at 105 St James Street, built next door to the Bank of Montreal. The site of the new building was occupied formerly by the Alliance Fire Assurance Building. The Royal Trust Building was designed by the American firm McKim, Mead and White, who had also designed the Bank of Montreal. The building was ten storeys tall, which was the maximum allowed height in Montreal between 1901 and 1923. In 1937 Royal Trust opened a second new building to house its Toronto offices. This Royal Trust Building was designed by Allward & Gouinlock and was located at 66 King Street West.[5] It was demolished in 1972 to make way for First Canadian Place. In 1969 the company relocated its head offices to the new Royal Trust Tower, which was part of the Toronto-Dominion Centre complex. Since 2009 Royal Trust has had its headquarters in the RBC Centre.

In 1978, Royal Trustco Ltd was founded at Ottawa to manage Royal Trust. In the mid-1980s, Royal Trustco ranked among the 10 largest financial institutions in Canada.[1]

Canadian real estate developer Robert Campeau attempted to acquire the bank in 1978 and approached then-CEO Kenneth White with an offer that White rebuffed. White later worked with the head of Toronto-Dominion Bank to sell a majority of shares to a consortium of Canadian businessmen.[6] That consortium sold the bank in July 1983 to , which was formed in 1982 as the financial service company of Brascan, which was controlled by the Bronfman family. Trilon made a $102 million share offering, the proceeds of which were used to acquire a 42% controlling interest in Royal Trust.[7]

In 1984, the real estate agency A.E. LePage merged with Royal Trust, to create the leading diversified real estate services organization in Canada. The new company is named Royal LePage.[8]

In 1986 Royal Trustco acquired Dow Financial Services Corporation, Dow Chemical's financial services subsidiary, for C$239 million. Following this purchase, Royal Trust established R.T. Securities and Royal International in Amsterdam and opened an office in Tokyo to promote trade between Japan and Canada.[7]

In 1987, Royal LePage became a publicly-traded company, trading on the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal stock exchanges.[8]

Royal Trust Building, Montreal

In 1993, the firm was bought out by the Royal Bank of Canada.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Royal Trustco Ltd"
  2. ^ An Act to incorporate "The Royal Trust and Fidelity Company." SQ 1892, c 79.
  3. ^ Naylor, R. T. The History of Business, 1867-1914. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006: p. 100.
  4. ^ Newman 1992, p. 5
  5. ^ Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal, vol. 15, no. 5 (May 1938), p. 113.
  6. ^ Patton, Phil (1988-07-17). "The Man Who Bought Bloomingdale's". New York Times.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b referenceforbusiness.com: "TRILON FINANCIAL CORPORATION"
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b royallepage.ca: "Our Story"
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