Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation began on June 16, 1879 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Wachovia National Bank. The bank was co-founded by James Alexander Gray and William Lemly. In 1911, the bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust Company, "the largest trust company between Baltimore and New Orleans", which had been founded on June 15, 1893. Wachovia grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast partly on the strength of its accounts from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which was also headquartered in Winston-Salem. On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of the few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta. In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc, giving its first entry into Florida. In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which was Republic Security Bank.
Sławomir Lachowski
From 1998 to 2000, Lachowski served as the Executive Vice President of the Management Board of Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności BP (PKO BP), the largest Polish bank, where he was initially responsible for retail banking, but over time he became responsible for all business lines, including corporate banking, investment banking, and the real estate market. During that time he oversaw restructuring of the PKO BP and formulating a new development strategy of the bank, owing to which the bank regained its competitiveness. Under the new strategy and the new name PKO Bank Polski, the bank was converted from a savings bank offering simple retail products, into a modern universal bank present in all segments of the market including retail, corporate and institutional customers. In the first year of implementation of the new strategy, the bank attracted nearly one million of new retail customers.