Ionian Bank

The Ionian Bank (IB) was a British overseas bank that investors established in 1839 to operate in the Ionian Isles, which was then a British Protectorate. It served also as the central bank of the United States of the Ionian Islands. IB later expanded in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. After losing its branches in Egypt to nationalization, IB retreated from the Mediterranean, selling all its operations there. Michael Behrens and John Trusted then acquired Ionian Bank, converting it into a merchant bank in London. This London operation was never very successful and in 1977 it voluntarily gave up its banking licence. The Greek operation, renamed Ionian Popular Bank, was absorbed into Alpha Bank in 2000.