Security Pacific Corporation

Product Details

Beautifully engraved antique bond certificate from the Security Pacific Corporation dating back to the 1980's. This document, which features the printed signatures of the company CEO and Secretary, was printed by the Jeffries Bank Note Company and measures approximately 12" (w) by 8" (h).

The vignette shows male and female figures flanking the company crest.

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Historical Context

Security Pacific began in 1871 as the Farmers and Merchants Bank. Both a consumer and a commercial bank from its start, the Merchants and Farmers, which became the Security First National Bank of Los Angeles in 1929, continued to grow, often by acquisition, to become a major southern Californian bank. By the late 1960s, it was ready to expand beyond California. At that time, the top management team consisted of Chairman and CEO Frederick Larkin Jr., President Carl Hartnack, and head of international and corporate banking Richard Flamson III, a tough, demanding, outspoken executive who once worked repossessing cars before beginning his banking career with SecPac.

These three men believed that deregulation of the banking industry was inevitable and that traditional banking activities could no longer sustain the kind of growth they felt their company needed. They opened offices in New York, Tokyo, London, and Sydney, and they also bought a northern California bank called Pacific National Bank, resulting in a name change to Security Pacific Bank.

When the Bank Holding Company Act was passed and banks were allowed to own non-banking financial subsidiaries, the company reincorporated in 1971 as Security Pacific Corporation. It then set about implementing a diversification strategy that went into high gear when Flamson took over as chairman and CEO in 1978.