First Republic Launches Delaware Trust Company

First Republic Bank in San Francisco has opened a trust company in Delaware as it looks to gain a greater market share of affluent households.

First Republic Trust Co. of Delaware will allow customers to take advantage of the state’s trusts that can offer “significant income and estate tax benefits, as well as greater flexibility to establish multigenerational trusts,” the $28 billion-asset company said Monday in a press release.

KeyCorp in Cleveland recently launched its own Delaware trust unit for wealthy clients looking for “asset protection, tax savings and flexibility using Delaware's favorable laws.” 

First Republic is planning on opening up to seven offices along the East Coast and three on the West Coast to boost its market share among affluent households in states such as California and cities such as New York and Boston.

Katherine August-deWilde, First Republic Bank’s president and chief operating officer Katherine August-deWilde, told analysts at a conference last week hosted by Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP that the company was mostly interested in growing by adding teams of wealth managers and bankers that have existing books of business rather than buying whole companies

John McCabe, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs Trust Co. and Neuberger Berman Trust Co., will run the unit as managing director and a senior trust officer.

The trust division is part of First Republic’s wealth management operations, which provide trust, investment management and brokerage services to high-net-worth clients. First Republic already has trust powers in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York and Oregon.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Community banking California Delaware
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER