Union Banking Corporation

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The Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was a banking corporation in the US whose assets were seized by the United States government during World War II.

[edit] Founding

The UBC was founded in August 1924, with offices at 39 Broadway in New York City. The founding officers of the bank included Cornelis Lievense as President, Prescott Bush as Vice President and director, along with the following:[1]

  • Johann G. Groeninger, managing director of the Halcyon shipping line of Rotterdam.
  • E. Roland Harriman, brother and business partner of W. Averell Harriman.
  • H. J. Kouwenhoven, managing director of the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart of Rotterdam.
  • Samuel F. Pryor, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Remington Arms.
  • J. P. Ripley, officer of W.A. Harriman & Co.
  • J. D. Sawyer, officer of W.A. Harriman & Co.

[edit] Trading with the Enemy

As early as March 1940, Cornelis Lievense had been implicated in trading with the enemy. Lievense, in addition to being President of the Union Banking Corporation, was an officer in several other companies, including:

  • President of the Domestic Fuel Corporation (co-located at 39 Broadway with the UBC)
  • President the Holland-American Trading Corporation (also co-located at 39 Broadway)
  • President and director of the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation
  • Director of the Holland American Investment Corporation
  • Director of the August Thyssen Bank, A.G. Berlin
  • Director of the N.V. Handelscompagnie "Ruilverkeer", Amsterdam

In March of 1940, a New York Times article revealed that the Domestic Fuel Corporation had earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first American company to appear on the Canadian blacklist of suspected enemy persons and corporations.[2]

On July 31, 1941, a New York Herald Tribune article revealed that the UBC had been created and funded by the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart, a Dutch bank formed and controlled by German steel magnate and one-time Nazi supporter Fritz Thyssen. The UBC was formed by Thyssen with the assistance of W. A. Harriman; the executive board consisted of trusted partners of Harriman and Thyssen. At the time the article was written, several members of Brown Brothers Harriman served on the board of the UBC, including Prescott Bush. As a Dutch-owned company, the U.S. assets of the UBC were frozen by the United States Government on May 10, 1940 when Germany invaded the Netherlands. However, at the advice of William R. White, New York Superintendent of Banks, the Harriman directors of UBC were to remain in control of the UBC until the entire corporation was formally seized by the government in 1942.[3].

On October 20, 1942, pursuant to the Trading with the Enemy Act, the United States seized all of the shares of the Union Banking Corporation.

Prescott Bush was, as of 1941, a director of the UBC with one share. Since Prescott Bush is the father and grandfather of two U.S. presidents, his involvement in the firm has drawn considerable interest from the media. Some have raised accusations that Prescott Bush directly or indirectly profited from his involvement in UBC, and that his continued involvement in the firm helped the Nazi party's rise to power.[4]

On December 15, 1944, the UBC moved its principal place of business from 39 Broadway to 120 Broadway.[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ "New International Bank", New York Times, Sep 10, 1924, p. 33
  2. ^ "Canada Blacklists Two U.S. Concerns", New York Times, Mar 28, 1940, p. 44
  3. ^ Racusin, M.J. "Thyssen Has $3,000,000 Cash in New York Vaults", New York Herald Tribune, Evening Edition, July 31, 1941
  4. ^ Ben Aris and Duncan Campbell. "How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power", The Guardian, September 25, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. 
  5. ^ "Banking Department Reports on Actions", New York Times, Dec 16, 1944, p. 25
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