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In 1963, Guy Warren Botts became President and Chief Executive Officer of Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Florida. Botts he concentrated on developing a network of banks throughout Florida. His approach was to use the existing holding company, Barnett National Securities Corporation (BSNC), to acquire or establish banks in each of the 20 most populous counties in Florida. From 1966 to 1976, Barnett purchased 34 banks and obtained new bank charters for an additional 19 banks. In 1969, the name of the holding company changed to Barnett Banks of Florida, Inc. to better reflect a common identity, and the individual bank names all changed to Barnett Bank of [city or county]. By 1979, Barnett Banks had opened its 100th banking office.
Barnett Banks, Inc. continued to expand throughout Florida and into Georgia, and in March 1993 acquired First Florida Banks, Inc. This made Barnett Banks, Inc. the largest banking organization in Florida and the 18th largest in the United States. In 1997 in a $15.5 billion-dollar deal, the largest in the history of banking industry at that time, NationsBank acquired Barnett Banks, Inc. Subsequently, in 1999, NationsBank and BankAmerica merged to form a national bank, Bank of America.
Summary:
This collection consists of biographical files, historical files, press releases, clipping files, affiliate files, merger files, regulatory filings and acquisitions files, alphabetic files, presentation files, resource files, newsletters and other miscellaneous files maintained by the Corporate Communications Department of Barnett Banks, Inc. This collection provides detailed information on the growth and expansion of Barnett Banks.
Subseries 1 contains media issues and newspaper clippings detailing the operations of Barnett Banks, Inc. Of interest are the question-and-answer lists prepared for specific media issues such as ATM fees, credit card delinquency and credit card fees, legal proceedings, and consumer debt.
Subseries 2 contains news releases from the Corporate Communications Department that cover such topics as banking mergers and acquisitions; elections of officers, promotions, and resignations; earnings and dividends information; legal issues involving lawsuits and court cases; and economic forecast and state of the economy. Of interest are news releases dealing with specific banking issues regarding interest rates, branch banking, interstate expansion, interactive banking, and mutual funds.
Subseries 3 contains information on many of the significant mergers that Barnett Banks, Inc. undertook during the period of expansion under CEO Charles Rice, including the First Florida merger in 1992. Among the materials included are newspaper clippings, press releases, talksheets and speeches, memoranda, correspondence, media guides, annual reports, statements of condition, branch purchases and assumption agreements, and acquisition team information.
Subseries 4 contains regulatory filings that Barnett Banks submitted to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the State of Florida, and the F.D.I.C. when applying for various approval of mergers in both Florida and Georgia. A typical application contained a description of the merger, effect on competition, needs of the community, exhibits, and the plan and agreements of the merger. Many files also include memoranda, resolutions, purchase and assumption agreements, annual reports, and correspondence.
Subseries 5 contains alphabetic files generally organized by subject, governmental agency, or title. Most files deal with various topical subjects: office park construction, hurricanes, international banking, interstate banking, retail strategy, small businesses, and working mothers. Other files cover federal acts such as the Community Reinvestment Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. There are also files covering various mergers, securities offerings, and lawsuits.
Subseries 6 contains a clipping file of newspaper and magazine clippings used for research purposes. Many of the articles deal with Barnett Bank specifically or with banking in Florida and the Southeastern United States. Of interest are the articles dealing with the changes taking place in the banking industry during the 1980s-1990s, as well as the articles Barnett had reprinted, apparently for publicity purposes, dealing with the expansion of Barnett Banks, Inc. and the financial success of Barnett Banks.
Subseries 7 contains presentations that various Barnett officers made to investors, financial conferences, shareholders, securities conferences and other various meetings.
Subseries 8 contains meeting and presentation materials from various Barnett Banks corporate meetings. Most of the meetings are the Spring Presidents meeting and the Fall Office Managers meeting. Generally, the meetings include presentations on the state of the economy and a forecast of the upcoming year, the "state of the company," mission statement, strategic plan, corporate goals, personnel changes, executive reorganizations, and motivational speakers. Of interest are the presentations regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Barnett Bank and Barnett's strengths compared to other banks in Florida, and the discussions on the changing face of banking in the U.S., traditional banking versus diversified banking, impact of technology, and competition of non-bank competitors.
Subseries 9 consists of credit policy manuals, workshop materials, and information regarding the development and implementation of Barnett's credit culture. The broad policy manuals typically are subdivided into specific chapters covering various credit topics, such as the borrower, loan agreements, commercial real estate, letters of credit, types of loans, secured and unsecured loans, construction loan, etc. This subseries also contains Advanced Commercial Training (ACT) Workshop materials for a variety of credit workshops on such topics as managing commercial credit functions, commercial loan structuring, commercial loan documentation, and short-term financing.
Subseries 10 contains reference materials, reports, banking studies, and other miscellaneous materials. Of interest are several studies on bank expansion, bank mergers, and bank operations, as well as several files on Barnett subsidiaries, management training, and Hurricane Andrew.
Subseries 11 contains extensive biographical files of the Barnett family, files of several of the historically significant CEOs, presidents, and directors, and files of Barnett Bank CEOs from the 1990s. The Barnett family material is comprehensive and includes several family histories, genealogies, correspondence, memoranda, pictures, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and obituaries.
Subseries 12 contains a variety of historical documents, newspaper clippings, brochures, and miscellaneous materials detailing the history of Barnett Bank and the Barnett family. Among the many items of interest are letters and articles by Bion H. Barnett detailing the early history of Barnett Bank in Jacksonville, interviews with William R. Barnett in 1988, 50th anniversary information, and historical information on the city of Jacksonville. This subseries also contains a chronology of the expansion of Barnett Banks, detailing the acquisitions, mergers, and name changes from 1877 to 1995.
Subseries 13 contains material on Barnett's retail strategy, including strengths and weaknesses. Of interest are the breakdowns on individual target groups, such as retirement, mass market, and affluent. This subseries also includes Sales & Service agendas on a wide variety of topics: ATM options, product updates, overdraft protection, IRAs, money market, etc. These generally circulated monthly and contain instructions and "Questions & Answers" for customer service personnel in dealing with potential Barnett customers.
Subseries 14 contains newsletters for bank employees, management, holding companies, and some of the Barnett support companies.
Subseries 15 contains information on many of the affiliate banks Barnett had acquired in Florida and Georgia. The quality and quantity of material varies from file to file, but most of them contain monthly and/or quarterly newsletters, newspaper clippings, and memoranda relating to bank expansion or personnel changes. In addition, several of the larger banks include strategic plans, statements of condition, economic reports, and annual reports. There are also several media notebooks detailing how bank officials should handle questions regarding mergers, acquisitions, court cases, and litigation.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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General Note:
This collection was arranged and described from materials obtained from Barnett Banks, Inc. when the Barnett Bank records were transferred to the Florida State Archives between 1999 and 2002.
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Barnett Banks Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.) Barnett Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.) Barnett First National Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.) Barnett Banks of Florida
Banks and banking History Florida. Bank buildings Florida Bank management Florida. Bank mergers Florida
Financial records. aat Ledgers. aat
Jacksonville (Fla.)
Added Entries
Barnett, William Boyd, d. 1903
Barnett, Bion, 1857-1958
Barnett family.
Barnett Banks of Florida
Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Barnett First National Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Barnett Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Barnett Banks
for detailed listing.