Ionian Bank Archives

Records of the Ionian Bank, 1837-[1977], namely the central records of the Bank, 1836-[1979], including material relating to foundation and constitution, 1837-1942; Company reports and accounts, 1839-1974; minute books and corporate records, notably the minutes of the Court of Directors, 1839-1969, General Meetings, 1842-1977 and various committees, 1886-1899 and 1959-1975; papers relating to shares, 1839-[1979], including registers, certificates and correspondence; accounting records, 1839-1977, including central ledgers, 1839-1848 and 1924-1957, and balance sheets, 1890-1929 and 1957-1975; branch records, 1839-1957, notably branch managers yearly reports, 1945-1956, papers of the Athens and other Greek branches, 1839-1949, and Cyprus Branch records, 1926-1957; material relating to takeovers and sale of assets, 1953-1960; papers concerning bank staff, 1839-1868, 1881-1903 and 1976; notes and typescript material on the history of the Ionian Bank, [1930-1975]. There is also a large series of files on relations between London and the Bank's branches, mainly dating from the period after World War One, which are still unlisted.

The Ionian Bank was founded in London in 1839 to finance trade between the Ionian Islands, (a British protectorate) and Great Britain. After the cession to Greece of the islands in 1864, the Bank extended its operations to the rest of Greece and during the twentieth century to Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey. The Greek assets were sold to the Commercial Bank of Greece in the 1950s and the Egyptian assets were sequestrated. The Ionian Bank ceased trading as such in 1978, though certain parts of its business were carried on by Ionian Securities Ltd, which was taken over by Alpha Credit Bank in 1999, forming the Alpha Bank.

Arranged in sections as outlined in the Scope and Content.

Apply to Archivist.

Temporary handlist and on-line catalogue available for the central records. The remainder of the collection is unlisted.

The condition of some of the documents is poor.

Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science Archives catalogue. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Copyright retained by depositor. Some documents may be photocopied.

The collection was originally deposited in St Antony's College, Oxford University following the cessation of trading in 1978 (though the college held some material prior to this date). It was transferred to the British Library of Political and Economic Science by Ionian Securities Ltd in 1980, with a further deposit in 1983. Nuffield College, Oxford University, deposited several files of material in 1988.