& co. type subsidiary ; private unlimited company industry private banking and wealth management founded 1692 headquarters 440 strand london england key people lord waldegrave chairman peter flavel chief executive 1 products wealth management accounts investments lending deposits number of employees 2 000 parent royal bank of scotland group website www.coutts.com coutts ku ts is a private bank and wealth manager founded in 1692 . it is the seventh oldest bank in the world and its international arm was recently sold to union bancaire priv e. 2 it is owned by the royal bank of scotland group rbs since 2000 when rbs purchased its parent natwest . coutts formed part of rbs s private banking division . during its time with rbs it acquired z rich based bank von ernst & cie and in 2008 coutts bank von ernst and other coutts international subsidiaries became rbs coutts bank . these traded as rbs coutts international to align them with the parent rbs group until 2011 when rbs coutts was renamed coutts & co. limited . contents 1 history 1.1 thomas coutts 1.2 angela burdett coutts 1.3 further expansion 1.4 recent years 2 locations 3 clients 4 design 5 sponsorship 6 malpractice 6.1 breaches of money laundering rules 6.2 mis selling of aig savings product 7 references in culture 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit a coutts office as it appeared in the 18th century . this mock up is part of the archives of coutts at their head office at 440 strand mary peagram the granddaughter of john campbell who married james coutts in 1755 the three graces the daughters of thomas coutts the bank which was to become coutts & co was originally a goldsmith banker s shop . it was formed in 1692 by a young scots goldsmith banker john campbell of lundie scotland . he set up business in strand london under a sign of the three crowns as was customary in the days before street numbers . 3 today the coutts logo still has the three crowns and its headquarters is still on the strand . campbell died in 1712 leaving the business to members of his family . the dominant force was campbell s son in law george middleton who had become campbell s partner in 1708 . during middleton s stewardship the bank was buffeted by one crisis after another . the jacobite revolution of 1715 threatened the stability of the banking system john law the comptroller of france s finances owed a great deal of money to the bank when the mississippi company bubble burst in 1720 and the english stock market collapsed in the same year . stability for the bank did not return until 1735 . john s son george campbell was also a partner and ultimately became the sole partner after the death of middleton in 1747 after which the bank was renamed the bankers of 59 strand . in 1755 john campbell s granddaughter mary known as polly married a merchant and banker james coutts . polly was george campbell s niece and george immediately made james a partner . the bank became known as campbell & coutts with james running the business and becoming sole partner following polly s and george s deaths in 1760 . george bequeathed most of his fortune and the bank to james . thomas coutts edit in 1761 james took his brother thomas coutts into the business which was now named james and thomas coutts . james and thomas did not always get on and eventually james drifted into politics leaving the running of the bank to thomas . james retired from the bank in 1775 due to ill health . the bank in the strand became known as thomas coutts & co. thomas coutts married twice . his first wife a servant named susannah starkie gave him three beautiful daughters nicknamed the three graces who eventually married leading figures in british society the earl of guilford the marquess of bute and sir francis burdett . thomas also had four sons who died in infancy . when susannah died he remarried just four days after the funeral . thomas coutts was 80 years old and his new wife harriot mellon was 40 years younger and an actress which stirred considerable comment . on thomas death in 1822 the bank was renamed coutts & co. thomas widow harriot inherited 900 000 from thomas along with a 50 % share in the bank . although she did not get on with her stepdaughters she wanted to keep the bank in the coutts family . harriot died in 1837 . in her will the coutts fortune was passed on to thomas s granddaughter angela burdett the daughter of sophia coutts and sir francis burdett . the will contained three conditions firstly angela s 50 % share in the bank was to be held in trust ; secondly that the heir should take the name of coutts ; and thirdly that the heir may never marry a foreigner . angela burdett coutts edit main article angela burdett coutts 1st baroness burdett coutts upon receipt of her inheritance angela burdett coutts became the wealthiest woman in britain . she devoted her life to philanthropy giving away an estimated amount of between 3 million and 4 million . her charity ranged widely she supported the church of england and its anglican offshoots overseas as well as the arts but the main thrust of her charity was directed toward improving the lives of the poor . a sewing school in spitalfields cotton gins in what is now nigeria boats and nets for the irish fishing industry and ragged schools in the poorest sections of cities were but a few of her projects . gladstone the prime minister and queen victoria resolved to acknowledge her philanthropic spirit formally . in 1871 she was granted a peerage in her own right as baroness burdett coutts of highgate and brookfield in the county of middlesex . in 1880 it became known that the baroness wished to marry her young american secretary william ashmead bartlett who was her junior by forty years . the partners of the bank were aghast at the prospect of such a marriage as were many dignitaries ; they saw bartlett as an adventurer only interested in her money . archibald tait the archbishop of canterbury attempted to forestall such a marriage from occurring while queen victoria herself with whom the baroness had often dined tried to prevent what she called the mad marriage . in a letter the queen wrote to lord harrowby stating that it would grieve her much if lady burdett coutts were to sacrifice her high reputation and her happiness by such an unsuitable marriage . this letter was passed on to lady burdett coutts who asked lord harrowby to reply that he had no knowledge of the subject alluded to quite a snub to the queen . one potential stumbling block to the marriage was her step grandmother s harriot s will which forbade marriage to an alien . as bartlett was an american the marriage would cause her to be disinherited . if this eventuality occurred her younger sister clara as next in line was set to inherit . angela burdett coutts managed to get clara to waive her rights . clara s son francis known as frank was not however so easily dissuaded and consulted his lawyers thinking to forestall the marriage by standing on their rights . finally bartlett himself in the face of immense pressure from society offered to release the baroness from his offer of marriage . she however remained determined refusing to release bartlett from his promise in spite of various scandalous accusations being made against him involving another woman and even his fathering of an illegitimate child . in february 1881 at the age of 67 angela burdett coutts broke the terms of the will by marrying bartlett in christ church down street piccadilly . the partners of the bank rushed to reassure the press that the heiress was neither a partner in the bank nor could she touch the capital . an argument sprang up over the inheritance and in particular over whether her ladyship should give up the bank to her sister clara . the newlywed fought back claiming that bartlett was only half american and therefore not technically an alien . her sister clara then claimed the fortune and the bitter dispute continued . in anticipation of victory clara and her son frank took the name coutts as required by the will . finally a compromise was struck with the majority of the coutts fortune set to pass to clara and her heirs . angela burdett coutts however kept two fifths of the income until her death in 1906 . on changing her name clara burdett who had married james money in 1850 became clara burdett money coutts . her son francis full name became francis burdett thomas nevill money coutts . he was better known as francis or frank coutts a writer and poet . he became 5th baron latymer in 1913 and died in 1923 . the following appeared in punch at the time money takes the name of coutts superfluous and funny for everyone considers coutts synonymous with money . vere carpenter the panic of 1890 forced the bank to change from a partnership to an unlimited liability company in 1892 . at that time limited liability was seen as risky by depositors . as a partnership the coutts family would have been personally liable to any depositor for his bank deposit in a crisis . fortunately there was no crisis . despite this there was little change in the organisation the working partners were divided between managing and junior managing partners . 4 further expansion edit in 1904 the bank moved to its current premises at 440 the strand . in 1914 coutts took over the bank of robarts lubbock & co. in the city obtaining a branch office and a clearing house seat in the process . in 1919 coutts merged with the national provincial & union bank of england but retaining the name coutts . throughout the 20th century coutts opened more branches . the first west end branch outside 440 strand was opened in 1921 in park lane . further london branches were opened in the west end 1921 cavendish square 1927 sloane street 1929 mayfair 1932 london wall 1962 brompton road 1975 and kensington 1978 . 5 it was not until 1961 that the bank moved outside the capital opening its first out of town branch at eton . this was followed by a branch in bristol in 1976 . in 1969 coutts became part of the national westminster bank . coutts embraced modern technology becoming one of the first banks to bring in machine posted ledgers at the end of the 1920s . in 1963 it was the first british bank to have a fully computerised accounting system . in 1987 coutts gained international representation when coutts established operations in geneva . between 1974 and 1978 coutts strand headquarters were redeveloped by frederick gibberd and partners . 5 francis burdett coutts s great grandson sir david burdett money coutts became chairman in 1976 retiring in 1993 leaving his cousin crispin money coutts heir to the title of baron latymer as the last remaining coutts name until his resignation . in october 1990 coutts and natwest decided to strengthen their representation internationally and the coutts group was created when subsidiaries already owned by coutts and natwest were merged . in 2000 natwest was purchased by the royal bank of scotland group rbs in one of the largest corporate transactions in the european banking sector . recent years edit rbs sold coutts international to union bancaire priv e ubp on 29 march 2015 for an undisclosed figure . the sale was part of the