This agroforest measures two square hectares of about 2,400 trees and shrubs at the former dairy farm of the Heesakkers family. The plan is to convert some 18.5 hectares into an agroforest with landscape elements (bushes, hedges, natural ponds and flower-rich fields). This is meant to form an ecological link between the adjacent forested areas in the nature network.
The Carara National Park in Costa Rica is one of the nature reserves with the highest biodiversity in Central America. Many plant and animal species have become extinct due to large-scale deforestation. Trees for All will be planting trees in the park over the next few years to help restore the primary forest. At this time, 65 hectares of forest have already been restored and a number of animal species have returned, including macaws, jaguars and capuchin monkeys.
In 2020 ABN AMRO MeesPierson was celebrating its 300th anniversary. We’ve seen the world change and develop since 1720. The financial world has flourished to unprecedented levels. As a private bank, we’ve always moved with our clients’ changing wishes and requirements over the centuries. And we’ll continue to do so going forward.
For the occasion of this anniversary, we have partnered with a striking artist, Joseph Klibansky. With a unique art experiment he knows how to connect all our relationships in a symbolic way. Especially for us he made his largest painting ever. Discover more about this special art project. Watch the making-of film and zoom in on the life-size work of art.
MeesPierson as it is today dates back to 1993. In that year, ABN AMRO combined its merchant banking subsidiaries Bank Mees & Hope and Pierson, Heldring & Pierson into a new bank. Four years later, MeesPierson was sold to Fortis. When ABN AMRO and Fortis merged in 2010, MeesPierson returned to being a division of ABN AMRO; the two organisations’ private banking activities were combined in ABN AMRO MeesPierson. MeesPierson is the product of many mergers of sometimes centuries-old bank, each with their own unique history, starting with the ‘Mees’ arm.
ABN AMRO has a diverse history, going back over 300 years and characterized by acquisitions, split-ups and mergers. In this history, ABN AMRO has plenty to be proud of. Nevertheless, that past also has a darker side. Even though people in the past had different views, some of our predecessors were involved in activities that the bank emphatically disavows in this day and age. The current ABN AMRO started in 2010 with the merger of the previous Dutch parts of ABN AMRO with Fortis Bank Nederland, after Fortis, Royal Bank of Scotland and Banco Santander bought ABN AMRO in 2007 and afterwards split up the bank in parts.
Recent independent historical research, commissioned by ABN AMRO, shows that some of the bank's predecessors had long and intensive involvement in slavery-related activities. They financed slave plantations, traded in slavery-related products (coffee, paint wood, sugar) and brokered insurance for slave ships.
The ABN AMRO Art & Heritage Foundation (Dutch only) shines a light on these dark sides. In this way, the bank takes the opportunity to show that it has a completely different vision and policy these days. With a transparent and critical attitude towards its own past, ABN AMRO wants to achieve its goal of becoming a better bank, also for future generations.
MeesPierson’s oldest roots lie in the eighteenth century, when Gregorius Mees joined Cordelois, De Vrijer & Mees, a Rotterdam-based cashier firm, in 1720. His son Rudolf followed in his footsteps and changed the name of the firm to R. Mees & Zoonen in 1786, after his two sons had joined. In those days, the firm mainly focused on insurance and bill brokerage and the cashier business (managing third-party funds for a fee). At the time, banks didn’t issue loans or pay interest. Given that the firm’s legal form didn’t offer the financial scope that was required for further growth, the firm decided to merge with the well-known Amsterdam-based bank Hope & Co. in 1966. Its new name was Mees & Hope, Bankiers.
Recent independent historical research shows that in the 2nd half of the 18th century the firm R. Mees & Zoonen was closely involved in the trade and insurance of products harvested by slaves, such as sugar and coffee. The Surinamese plantations where these products come from can also count on private investments from the partners. During this time, the company also regularly mediates in insurance of slave ships, of which enslaved persons are seen as part of. In addition, R. Mees & Zoonen was intensively involved in the West African activities of the Afrikaans Handels-Vereeniging until 1879, in which, although unofficially, slavery is involved in practice. These are activities that the bank strongly disapproves of today.
Hope & Co. was established in 1762 by the Scottish Hope family, who were well-known merchants. The firm was led by Henry Hope, the family’s most prominent member, from 1781 to 1811. It specialised in foreign loans.
Recent independent historical research, commissioned by ABN AMRO, shows that Hope & Co. in the 18th century was intensively involved in financing plantations in the Caribbean and later in the United States. She is also involved in the trade in and services related to slavery-related products such as sugar, coffee and diamonds. Around 1780, a quarter to half of the profits come from slavery-related activities. To protect its investments, Hope & Co. sometimes directly involved in the management of plantations, which could have major consequences for the daily lives of the enslaved. Until the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands in 1863, the company remained active in this field. These are activities that the bank strongly disapproves of today.
The last arm of Bank Mees & Hope’s family tree is that of Nederlandse Overzee Bank. Mees & Hope, Bankiers merged with this bank in 1969 to create Bank Mees & Hope, which specialised in the international trade in goods, securities trading and stock exchange transactions, and industrial loans.
In the Netherlands, Kingma’s Bank, which was founded in 1869, was acquired in 1971, while Bank Mees & Hope took an equity stake in Paris-based Banque de Neuflize, Schlumberger, Mallet in France. As growth ground to a halt due to the economic downturn in the early 1970s and the consolidation drive in the banking industry continued, Bank Mees & Hope decided to join forces with a robust partner. It found its match in Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN). Although Bank Mees & Hope became a wholly owned ABN subsidiary on 28 October 1975, it continued to operate under its own name until the merger with Pierson, Heldring & Pierson in 1993.
The Pierson in MeesPierson stems from another direct predecessor of MeesPierson alongside Bank Mees & Hope: Pierson, Heldring & Pierson. This bank, too, was the product of a merger between even older banks and name givers.
Pierson, Heldring & Pierson’s areas of expertise had many overlaps with those of Bank Mees & Hope. Pierson, Heldring & Pierson mainly focused on the corporate sector, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.
In 1975, Pierson, Heldring & Pierson decided to join a general bank with a broader financial base, i.e. Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank (Amro). The firm, which had become a public limited company by that time, did stay fully independent under its new owner and continued to operate under its own name.
The fact that our bank has been around for 300 years is testament to its penchant for moving with the trends of the times, acting ahead of the market and plotting a visionary strategy that makes the difference. In short, it’s indicative of a forward-looking perspective. Our aim is to be there for our clients and support them with our expertise. We’re knowledgeable and socially engaged, we take a personalised approach and we have the qualities and mentality of a game changer. We’re in it for the long haul: we can’t wait for the next 300 years.
