Coutts

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Coutts (more fully, Coutts & Co.) is one of the UK's leading private banks, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS acquired Coutts and all of its overseas subsidiaries when it bought NatWest. On 1 January 2008, Coutts' international businesses were renamed RBS Coutts, aligning them more closely with the parent RBS Group. Coutts offers a range of private banking services including investment management and advisory services.

[edit] History

A Coutts office as it may have appeared three hundred years ago. – This mock up is part of the archives of Coutts found in their head office at 440 Strand Mary Peagram, the granddaughter of John Campbell, married James Coutts in 1755. Three Graces, the daughters of Thomas Coutts

The bank which was to become Coutts & Co, was originally known as Campbells Bank. It was formed in 1692 by a young Scots goldsmith-banker, John Campbell of Lundie, Scotland. He set up business in the Strand, London, under a sign of the Three Crowns. Today, the Coutts logo still has the three crowns, and its headquarters is still in the Strand.^[1]

Campbell died in 1712, leaving the business to members of his family. The dominant force was Campbell's son in law, George Middleton, who had become Campbell's partner in 1708. During the years of Middleton's stewardship, the bank was going downhill, buffeted by one crisis after another. The Jacobite revolution of 1715 threatened the Stability of the banking system, John Law, the Comptroller of France's finances, owed a great deal of money to the bank when the Mississippi Company bubble burst in 1720 and the English stock market collapsed in the same year. Stability for the bank did not return until 1735. John's son, George Campbell was also a partner, and ultimately became the sole partner after the death of Middleton in 1747, after which the bank was renamed the "Bankers of 59 Strand".

In 1755, John Campbell's granddaughter, Mary (known as "Polly"), married a merchant, James Coutts. Polly was George Campbell's niece and George immediately made James a partner. The bank was renamed Campbell & Coutts. James ran the business. Following the Polly's and George's deaths in 1760, James became the sole partner. George bequeathed most of his fortune, and the bank, to James.

[edit] Thomas Coutts

In 1761 James took his brother Thomas Coutts in to the business, which was now named James and Thomas Coutts.

James and Thomas did not always get on and eventually James drifted into politics, leaving the running of the bank to Thomas. James retired from the bank in 1775 due to ill health. The bank in the Strand became known as Thomas Coutts & Co.

Thomas Coutts married twice. His first wife, a servant named Susannah Starkie, was considered to be beneath his station. She gave him three beautiful daughters nicknamed "The Three Graces" who eventually married leading figures in British society: the Earl of Guildford, the Marquis of Bute and Sir Francis Burdett. Thomas also had four sons who died in infancy. When Susannah died, he remarried just four days after the funeral. Thomas Coutts was 80 years old, and his new wife, Harriot Mellon, was 40 years younger and an actress, which stirred considerable comment. On Thomas' death in 1822 the bank was renamed "Coutts & Co."

Thomas' widow, Harriot, inherited £900,000 from Thomas along with the bank. Although she did not get on with her step-daughters, she wanted to keep the bank in the Coutts family. Harriot died in 1837. In her will, the Coutts fortune was passed on to Thomas's granddaughter, Angela Burdett, the daughter of Sophie Coutts and Sir Francis Burdett. The will contained three conditions: Firstly the bank was to be held in Trust, secondly that the heir should take the name of Coutts, and thirdly that the heir may never marry a foreigner. Thus, Angela became Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts.

[edit] Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts

By 1837, Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts was one of the wealthiest women in Britain. Angela had no children and gave away more than £3 million to causes such as the Ragged Schools Union and the Temperance Society. In 1871 Gladstone resolved to reward Angela for her good deeds, and Queen Victoria, who was also a friend of Angela, agreed with Gladstone's suggestion of granting her a peerage, and Angela became Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts of Highgate and Brookfield.

[edit] Angela's "Mad Marriage"

In 1880, it became known that the Baroness had fallen in love with her young American secretary William Ashmead-Bartlett and proposed to marry him. The partners of the bank were aghast at the news of the proposed marriage, as were many dignitaries. They saw Bartlett as an adventurer, interested only in her money. The Archbishop of Canterbury attempted to try and dissuade such a marriage from occurring. Queen Victoria herself, with whom the Baroness had often dined, intervened to try and prevent what she called the "mad marriage". In a letter the Queen wrote to Lord Harrowby she stated that it would grieve her much "if Lady Burdett Coutts were to sacrifice her high reputation and her happiness by such an unsuitable marriage". This letter was passed on to Angela who asked Lord Harrowby to reply that he had no knowledge of the subject alluded to. This was quite a snub to the Queen.

One potential stumbling block to the marriage was her step-grandmother's (Harriot's) Will which forbade marriage to an alien, and as Bartlett was an American the marriage would cause her to be disinherited. Clara, her sister would have been next in line and would have succeeded in her place. Clara was persuaded by Angela to waive her right. However, Clara's son Francis (known as Frank), was not so easily persuaded, and consulted his lawyers thinking he might dissuade the marriage by insisting on their rights. Finally Bartlett himself, in the face of immense pressure from society, offered to release the Baroness from his offer of Marriage. However, the Baroness remained determined and refused to release Bartlett from his promise, in spite of various scandalous accusations being made against him involving another woman, and even an illegitimate baby of which he was accused of being the father.

In February 1881, at the age of 67, the Baroness broke the terms of the Will by marrying the foreigner in Christ Church, Down Street, Piccadilly. The partners of the bank rushed to re-assure the press that Angela was neither a partner in the bank, nor could she touch the capital.

An argument sprang up over the inheritance and in particular over whether the Baroness should give up the bank in favour of her sister Clara. The Baroness fought back claiming that Bartlett was only half American and therefore not technically an "alien". Angela's sister, Clara, claimed the fortune, and the bitter dispute continued. In anticipation of victory, Clara and her son Frank took the name "Coutts" – as required by the Will. Finally a compromise was struck and most of the Coutts fortune passed to Clara and her heirs. However, Angela kept two fifths of the income until her death in 1906.

Clara Burdett, who had married James Money in 1850 became Clara Burdett Money-Coutts. Her son Francis' full name became Francis Burdett Money Coutts-Nevill, 5th Baron Latymer. He was better known as Francis (or Frank) Coutts, a writer and poet. He became Baron Latymer in 1913 and died in 1923.

The following appeared in "Punch" at the time:-

Money takes the name of Coutts,

Superfluous and fimny*,

For everyone considers Coutts,

Synonymous with Money.

[Vere Carpenter]

• "fimny" is assumed to be a mis-type of "funny"^{[citation needed]}.

The Panic of 1890 forced the bank to change from a Limited company to a Partnership. At that time, limited liability was seen as risky by depositors. As a partnership, the Coutts family would have been personally liable to any depositor for his bank deposit in a crisis. Fortunately, there was no crisis.

In 1904, the bank moved to its current premises at 440 Strand. In 1914 Coutts took over the bank of Roberts, Lubbock & Co, obtaining a branch office and a clearing house seat in the process.

In 1919, Coutts merged with the National Provincial & Union Bank of England whilst retaining the name "Coutts". In 1961, the first branch outside London was opened in Eton, Berkshire. In 1969, Coutts became part of the National Westminster bank.

Francis Burdett Coutts's great grandson, Sir David Burdett Money-Coutts, became chairman in 1976, retiring in 1993, leaving his cousin Crispin Money-Coutts (heir to the title Baron Latymer), as the last remaining Coutts name until 1999 when Crispin resigned.

In 2000, National Westminster Bank was purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland in one of the largest corporate transactions ever in the European Banking Sector. Today Coutts is part of the Wealth Management division of RBS.

Coutts still has its headquarters at 440 Strand, London, with branches throughout the UK and the rest of the world. It is a private bank, which means its clients are expected to have substantial income or liquid assets in excess of £500,000. The bank is best known in the UK as Queen Elizabeth's banker. A Coutts Automated Teller Machine is in the basement of Buckingham Palace for use by the Royal Family and Household.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Locations

Coutts & Co – Headquarters of Coutts in the Strand, – by Night

Coutts private bank operate and have offices throughout the World. Coutts are split into two separate entities:

• Coutts, who look after the 22 offices in the UK as well as the office in Monaco.
• RBS Coutts, which has its headquarters in Zurich and five other offices in Switzerland – Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lugano and Solothurn. Its international offices are situated in Hong Kong, Marbella, Montevideo, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai and also Jersey, Isle of Man and Cayman.

[edit] Offices in London

Cadogan Place, Canary Wharf, St. Mary Axe, Cavendish Square, Fleet Street and the head office in the Strand.

[edit] Offices outside London

Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Eton, Guildford, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading and Tunbridge Wells.

[edit] Management

The Earl of Home, Chairman of the Coutts Group

• Chairman of Coutts & Co. David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home
• Chief Executive of Coutts & Co. Sarah Deaves
• Chief Executive of RBS Coutts International (RBS Coutts Bank Ltd.) Hanspeter Brunner

[edit] Becoming a client

As a discreet organisation, Coutts is not overt about the conditions that must be met in order to open an account. They are, however, as follows:

In order to become a Coutts client, you must have either

a) Investable assets of £500,000

and/or

b) Net assets (including your house, jewellery, artwork, etc.) totalling £5,000,000.

Additionally, Coutts will consider taking on customers who have the potential to meet these criteria in the next 3–5 years and can prove historic earnings over recent years in excess of £100,000 pa.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Customers

Historically Coutts was an upper crust clearing bank to the landed gentry, but today they are seen as wealth managers willing to accept a wider class of clientele, including top sportsmen, lottery winners, football stars, businessmen, chief executives, and pop singers. Coutts is known as a bank for the rich and famous of British society.

Coutts is also known as the "Queen's Bank" to many by virtue of it being reputed to be the bankers to the British Royal Family.

Within the UK it is the largest Private Bank and is said only to accept financially independent customers with more than £500,000 to deposit. However press articles in October 2005 reported Coutts as saying that you would need at least £3 million to be considered financially independent. Being a millionaire will get you in as a customer, but perhaps it won't guarantee you financial independence.

[edit] Sponsorship

Coutts London Jewellery Week will be London's first celebration of jewellery design. Jewellers such as Stephen Webster will lend their support, from 11th to 18th June 2008.^[2]

Sarah Deaves, Chief Executive of Coutts & Co, commented: "Coutts is absolutely thrilled to be the principal sponsor of the first ever London Jewellery Week. The connection between Coutts and jewellery is steeped through our 300 year history, and begins with the foundation of the bank in 1692 by Scottish goldsmith-banker, John Campbell, who not only supplied plate and jewellery but also a full banking service to clients. Years later, and the French revolution saw numerous émigrés fleeing the country to England, many opened accounts with Coutts and requested that the Bank sell their jewels in order to acquire the much needed cash. And let's not forget the number of local jewellers that have held their accounts with Coutts, the earliest of which dates back to 1712.

"Today, we are the co sponsors of The Royal Ballet's production of 'Jewels' which shows this November. And last three years have seen us supporting some of the best of British fashion designers. This includes the redesign of our Account Card by Stella McCartney and World Card by Ozwald Boateng, the hosting of an Alice Temperley fashion show for clients and most recently, we announced our sponsorship of Matthew Williamson's 'Ten years in Fashion' exhibition at the Design Museum."

[edit] References in culture

Coutts is mentioned in the 1889 Gilbert and Sullivan Savoy opera The Gondoliers in the following lyrics:

They all shall equal be!

The Earl, the Marquis, and the Dook,

The Groom, the Butler, and the Cook,

The Aristocrat who banks with Coutts,

The Aristocrat who cleans the boots,

The Noble Lord who rules the State,

The Noble Lord who scrubs the grate.

• Several Doctor Who novels refer to the Doctor having an account at Coutts under the name Dr R.J. Smith, with various companions as co-signatories.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Clan Farquharson – the surname Coutts is a sept of this Scottish clan

[edit] External links

• Coutts & Co
• National Westminster Bank
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
• RBS Coutts
• www.CouttsSucks.com -- For a different perspective on the Bank