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MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006. It was the world's largest independent credit card issuer, specializing in affinity cards.〔(USPages.com > Regional Banks > MBNA Corporation )〕 MBNA was founded in 1982 as Maryland Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Maryland National Bank. The letters ''N.A.'' stood for ''National Association''. In 1989, Maryland Bank was renamed MBNA America Bank. MBNA Corp. spun off from Maryland National and became an independent company in 1991. Maryland National was acquired by NationsBank in 1993. ==History== The former Maryland National Bank, once the largest banking chain in Maryland originated as the Baltimore Trust Company in the early 20th Century. It later was challenged by the expenses and problems from the building of its landmark iconic art deco-style skyscraper of red brick, masonry and limestone trim, headquarters in downtown Baltimore at 10 Light Street between East Redwood (formerly German Street before World War I) and East Baltimore Streets. The new BTC Building which immediately became the tallest building in Baltimore and Maryland, surpassing the neighboring Citizens National Bank to the south, was begun in 1924 and completed in 1929, just before the avalanche of economic disaster, unemployment and the now deepening Great Depression in the early 1930s following the Wall Street Crash of 1929. After a series of reorganizations during the "New Deal" administration of 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his bank holiday in 1933, shortly after taking office in March, the bank was reorganized as the Maryland National Bank. By the early 1980s after a dispute with Maryland state banking officials and the legislators of the General Assembly of Maryland over increasing the level of interest allowed on credit card changes from the long-time traditional 18 - 1/2%, a number of Maryland banks including Maryland National moved their credit card issuing and operations centers to the neighboring State of Delaware which had a more "business-friendly" environment and now released from interest rate ceilings were able to greatly increase the amount charges to their Maryland checking, savings accounts and credit card holders. Their Delaware operations were supplemented by banker/financiers generous campaign contributions to various political committees and politicians over decades in the small state). From that point, a number of increasing banking services were run out of Delaware and necessitated the corporate reorganization of many banks and the beginnings of holding companies to control and increasing number of subsidiaries in Maryland and other near-by states. MBNA was founded in 1982 by a group of MNC Financial (regional bank holding company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland) executives headed by Charles Cawley. Its first office was housed in a converted old A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) food supermarket in Ogletown, Delaware. Until his death, Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner served as Chairman of the Board. In 1995, MBNA moved its headquarters from a suburban location to Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. This investment was credited with helping to revive Wilmington's downtown real estate market. Historically many MBNA executives were former employees of the FBI.〔Havill, Adrian. "Epilogue." ''Robert Philip Hanssen: The Spy who Stayed out in the Cold''. Crime Library. Retrieved on June 10, 2014. p. (15 ). "Following Mueller's appointment, the disgraced Louis Freeh joined a Delaware credit card company, MBNA. Many of the firm's executives are former FBI employees."〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MBNA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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