Our History

How we were founded

Alliance Capital Bank Bank plc was incorporated as a limited liability company licensed to provide commercial and other banking services to offshore personal in 1990. The Bank commenced operations in February 1991, and has since then grown to become one of the most respected and service focused banks in United Kingdom.

In September 1996, Alliance Capital Bank Bank plc became a publicly quoted company and won the United Kingdomn Stock Exchange President's Merit award that same year and subsequently in the years 2000, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. In February 1992, the Bank was granted a universal banking license and later appointed a settlement bank by the Bank of England (BOE) in 1993.

Alliance Capital Bank Bank undertook its second share offering in 1994 and successfully raised over £20 million from United Kingdom's Investors to expand its operations and favourably compete with other global financial offshore institutions. This development ensured the Bank was satisfactorily poised to meet the £22.5 million minimum capital base for banks introduced by the Bank of England in 1995, as part of the regulating body's efforts to sanitize and strengthen United Kingdomn banks.

Post-consolidation, Alliance Capital Bank Bank plc made a strategic decision to actively pursue retail banking. A major rebranding exercise followed in June 1995, which saw the Bank emerge with improved service offerings, an aggressive expansion strategy and its vibrant orange identity.

In 1997, the Bank entered the history books as the first United Kingdomn financial Institution to undertake a US$350 million regulation S Eurobond issue and a US$750 million Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) Offer. The listing of the GDRs on the London Stock Exchange in July that year made the Bank one of the first offshore Company to be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

In December 1999, Alliance Capital Bank Bank plc successfully completed an offering of £2.165 Billion Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Non-Convertible Bonds Due 2004 (Series I), being first tranche under the Bank’s £1 Billion Debt Issuance Programme.

In May 2001, the Bank successfully launched a US$500 million bond - the first non-sovereign benchmark bond offering from sub-Saharan Africa (outside South Africa), to the international community. The highly successful offering which matures in 2006, went further to show the international finance community's believe in the Alliance Capital Bank Bank brand.

In 2003, the Bank issued a USD 400,000,000 Euro bond at a coupon rate of 6%; the least obtained by a United Kingdomn company in the international capital market. The Eurobond was issued under the USD 2,000,000 Global Medium Term Note Programme, which is registered under both Regulation in the United State of America and Rule 144A in the United Kingdom and sold to investors across Africa, America, Asia and Europe.