Ottoman Bank x Imperial Ottoman Bank

The first Ottoman Bank was formed in 1856 as a British chartered company by a group of London businessmen with interests in Turkey. It was liquidated in 1863 when a new Turkish company, the Imperial Ottoman Bank was formed, with its head office in Istanbul and a board of directors divided between London and Paris. This new Turkish company which absorbed all the business of the old British company, operated under a concession granted by the Turkish government, and acted as the state bank of Turkey. In 1923 the new Turkish republic established its own central bank and the Imperial Ottoman Bank became an ordinary bank. In 1925 the bank reverted to its original title, the Ottoman Bank, as a condition of the renewal of its concession by the Turkish government.

The head office was located in Istanbul, but with management control resting with a board of directors, half of which sat in London and the other half in Paris, decisions taken by one half being subject to ratification by the other. Annual general meetings were held in London. Branches of the bank were opened throughout the Ottoman Empire; these became subsidiary banks when the Empire disintegrated. The branches in Turkey and subsidiaries in Yugoslavia and Syria were the particular interest of the Paris group of directors, while the London group supervised the branches in Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Transjordan and Roumania. In 1969 the branches of the bank in London, Cyprus, Jordan, Sudan, Uganda, Arabia and Jersey were taken over by Grindlay's Bank.

The London office had premises at 26 Old Broad Street 1856-62; 4 Bank Buildings, Lothbury 1863-71; 26 Throgmorton Street 1872-1947 (including 27 Throgmorton Street 1925-7); 20-22 Abchurch Lane 1948-58; 18-22 Abchurch Lane 1959-69; 23 Fenchurch Street 1970-71; 2-3 Philpot Lane 1972-83; 3rd floor, Dunster House, 17-21 Mark Lane 1984-7; and King Wiilliam House, 2A Eastcheap from 1988.