First Hawaiian, Inc.
Hawaii's oldest bank holding company, tracing to an 1858 Honolulu savings bank, which spent 15 years as a wholly owned BNP Paribas subsidiary before a 2016 IPO returned it to public markets.
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- Established
- 1858
- Location
- Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
- Country
- United States
- Origins
- Founded August 17, 1858, in Honolulu by Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich as Bishop & Co. Savings Bank, described as the second bank to open west of the Rocky Mountains.
- Name changes
- Renamed The Bank of Bishop and Co., Ltd. (1919), Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu (1929), Bishop First National Bank of Hawaii (1933), Bishop National Bank of Hawaii (1956), First National Bank of Hawaii (1960), and First Hawaiian Bank (1969).
- BancWest merger
- Merged with San Francisco-based Bank of the West in 1998 to form BancWest Corporation, which BNP Paribas acquired outright in 2001 for $2.4 billion.
- Return to public markets
- BNP Paribas spun off First Hawaiian, Inc. in a Nasdaq IPO priced in August 2016, retaining roughly 85% ownership immediately afterward.
- Size at IPO
- Approximately $19 billion in total assets in 2016
Overview
First Hawaiian, Inc. is the holding company for First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii’s oldest bank, which traces its founding to August 17, 1858, when Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich opened Bishop & Co. Savings Bank on the Honolulu waterfront — described as only the second bank to open west of the Rocky Mountains (Encyclopedia.com). The institution changed names repeatedly over the following century, becoming The Bank of Bishop and Co., Ltd. in 1919, Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu in 1929, Bishop First National Bank of Hawaii in 1933, Bishop National Bank of Hawaii in 1956, First National Bank of Hawaii in 1960, and finally First Hawaiian Bank in 1969 (Encyclopedia.com). It grew through acquisitions in the early 1990s, purchasing First Interstate of Hawaii, Inc. in 1991 (about $900 million in assets) and Pioneer Federal Savings Bank in 1993 (about $650 million in assets) (Encyclopedia.com).
Merger with Bank of the West and BNP Paribas ownership
In 1998, First Hawaiian merged with San Francisco-based Bank of the West to form BancWest Corporation, combining Hawaii’s oldest bank with a mainland California institution under a single holding structure (Honolulu Star-Bulletin). By 2001, France’s BNP Paribas — then described as the world’s fifth-largest bank — acquired full ownership of BancWest for $2.4 billion, making First Hawaiian Bank a wholly owned subsidiary of a French banking group even as it kept its Hawaii-based branding and community focus (Honolulu Star-Bulletin). J. Michael Shepherd, who later led BancWest’s Bank of the West subsidiary as president and CEO from 2008 and chaired BNP Paribas USA from 2016, previously served as a director of First Hawaiian, Inc. during this period of BNP Paribas ownership (citybiz; SEC EDGAR).
2016 return to public markets
In July 2016, First Hawaiian, Inc. filed to raise up to $558 million through an initial public offering on Nasdaq, selling roughly 21 million shares priced between $21 and $23, as part of a broader capital-raising strategy BNP Paribas had announced in December 2015; BNP Paribas chose to spin off the bank in a share offering rather than sell it outright, and was set to retain about 85% ownership once the offering closed, with the bank itself, then holding about $19 billion in assets, receiving none of the IPO proceeds (American Banker). The offering, underwritten by a syndicate including JPMorgan, Barclays and Credit Suisse, returned First Hawaiian to public markets after 15 years as a wholly owned BNP Paribas subsidiary (American Banker).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not verify First Hawaiian, Inc.’s current (post-2016) ownership structure, asset size, or BNP Paribas’s present stake, since the independent reporting fetched for this profile covers its history only through the 2016 IPO. It does not state the specific years J. Michael Shepherd served on First Hawaiian’s board, since neither independent source describing that directorship gives start or end dates. It also does not attempt a full account of the bank’s branch network, its role in Hawaii’s broader banking sector, or its activities since 2016.
Timeline
- 1858-08-17
- Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich open Bishop & Co. Savings Bank on the Honolulu waterfront.
- 1969
- The bank adopts the name First Hawaiian Bank.
- 1991
- First Hawaiian purchases First Interstate of Hawaii, Inc., adding about $900 million in assets.
- 1993
- First Hawaiian acquires Pioneer Federal Savings Bank, adding about $650 million in assets.
- 1998
- First Hawaiian merges with San Francisco-based Bank of the West to form BancWest Corporation.
- 2001
- France's BNP Paribas acquires full ownership of BancWest Corporation for $2.4 billion, making First Hawaiian Bank a wholly owned subsidiary of a French banking group.
- 2016-07
- First Hawaiian, Inc. files to raise up to $558 million in an initial public offering on Nasdaq, with BNP Paribas set to retain about 85% ownership afterward.
- 2016-08
- First Hawaiian, Inc. prices and completes its IPO, returning to public markets after 15 years as a wholly owned BNP Paribas subsidiary.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Available independent sources describe First Hawaiian, Inc.'s ownership and IPO structure only through 2016; this profile does not verify BNP Paribas's current ownership stake or First Hawaiian's present-day asset size, since that would require sourcing beyond the scope of the historical and IPO-era reporting fetched here.
- The exact years J. Michael Shepherd served on First Hawaiian's board are not stated in any source fetched for this profile; both sources describing his directorship only note it was a past role as of 2023.
Sources
5 sources (4 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
First Hawaiian's founding, name changes and 1990s acquisitions were verified against an independent reference-publisher corporate history (Encyclopedia.com), fetched and read in full. Its 1998 merger with Bank of the West to form BancWest Corporation and BNP Paribas's 2001 full acquisition for $2.4 billion were independently verified against an archived Honolulu Star-Bulletin report. The 2016 IPO's size, structure and BNP Paribas's post-IPO ownership stake were verified against American Banker, an independent trade publication. J. Michael Shepherd's prior board membership at First Hawaiian, Inc. is corroborated by two independent sources: citybiz trade-press reporting (also used on his own profile) and an SEC-filed Discover Financial Services exhibit describing his prior directorships. Wikipedia was not used at any stage of this profile's research.
- First Hawaiian, Inc. Supports: The bank's 1858 founding by Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich, its sequence of name changes through 1969, and its 1991 and 1993 acquisitions of First Interstate of Hawaii and Pioneer Federal Savings Bank.
- First Hawaiian goes global but stays local Supports: The 1998 merger with Bank of the West to form BancWest Corp. and BNP Paribas's 2001 acquisition of full ownership of BancWest for $2.4 billion.
- First Hawaiian Plans $558M IPO Supports: The size and share structure of the 2016 IPO, BNP Paribas's post-offering 85% ownership stake, the bank's $19 billion in assets at the time, and BNP Paribas's broader capital-raising rationale for the spinoff.
- Discover Financial Services Appoints J. Michael Shepherd To Its Board Supports: Independent confirmation that J. Michael Shepherd previously served as a director of First Hawaiian, Inc.
- Discover Financial Services Names J. Michael Shepherd to Its Board of Directors (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2) Supports: Additional confirmation, in a regulatory-filed exhibit, that Shepherd previously served as a director of First Hawaiian, Inc. and of CoreLogic, alongside his BancWest/Bank of the West and Shawmut career history.
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