Florida Mainstreet

City National Bank has a rich history of “firsts” throughout its dynamic 62 years in South Florida.

Today, the Bank is proud to announce our most exciting and significant first -- an agreement to sell an 83 percent majority interest in City National Bank to 306-year-old Caja Madrid, Spain’s second largest “Savings Bank” and fourth largest banking group.

Unlike traditional American banks, which distribute profits back to shareholders through dividends, Spanish Savings Banks do not have shareholders. So instead of paying shareholder dividends, Savings Banks allocate a portion of their net earnings to “social dividends,” which are reinvested back into the community through social and cultural philanthropies. City National Bank has always followed a similar tradition of community philanthropy, and will continue to do so.

It’s business as usual at City National Bank. Leonard Abess will continue as Chairman, CEO and President, and will retain a 17 percent ownership in the Bank. City National Bank’s management team will stay in place and there will be no changes to the City National Bank name, the way we conduct business with our customers, how our customers’ accounts are handled, or our branch locations.

In fact, this announcement means that City National Bank can continue to expand and flourish throughout the state of Florida, not only with the support of Caja Madrid’s strength as a $250 billion institution, but also with the high standards the Bank has always maintained and our unwavering desire to continue – even more so now – to give back to the communities in which we do business.