Alexander Hamilton's bank is getting a new name: BNY

By Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The oldest U.S. bank is getting a new name.

Bank of New York Mellon is embracing BNY as its new moniker, it announced on Tuesday. The company also unveiled block-lettered signs with the three-letter name across its major offices.

Since it was founded 240 years ago by Alexander Hamilton, a U.S. founding father further immortalized in a Broadway musical, BNY has grown to oversee $48.8 trillion in assets, and serves as a bank for other financial institutions, known as a custodian. The new name is part of an effort to broaden BNY's image to encompass its other businesses, including markets, wealth and investment management.

BNY is the longest continuously operating company in New York City and the company's founding even predates the 1787 signing of the U.S. constitution.

"Though we have long been known as both trusted and resilient, to exist and thrive for more than two centuries has also required a continuous focus on innovation," CEO Robin Vince wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday.

Since taking the helm in March 2022, Vince has brought in new leadership and focused on growth in areas like real-time payments and artificial intelligence, while boosting efficiency. The executive spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs, where he rose to become its chief risk officer.

BNY's stock has risen about 14% in 2024, compared with 10% for a broader S&P 500 index of bank shares. Its earnings per share and revenue climbed last year.

"BNY today is more broad" than its traditional custody business, said Ken Usdin, an analyst at Jefferies. "Market and wealth services is the largest business segment, it's the most profitable and it's the fastest growing ... the company has rightly emphasized that direction of travel."

The bank's rebrand was its first since it slimmed down to BNY Mellon 17 years ago. It follows a trend toward brevity on Wall Street after decades of mergers and acquisitions led to ever-lengthier names.

BNY also introduced a new teal arrow logo to precede its all-capitals name, which is already a widely used shorthand in financial circles. Some of its divisions will also be renamed: BNY Investments, BNY Wealth and BNY Pershing.

The bank's legal name will remain The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates and Rod Nickel)