# Brown Brothers Harriman: the private partnership without FDIC cover

> Brown Brothers Harriman — the oldest US private banking partnership (1818): no FDIC, unlimited partner liability; an MFO of ~$58bn, custody of $6.2tn, press-reported thresholds.

Last modified: 2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z
Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/brown-brothers-harriman
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Cite as: Brown Brothers Harriman: the private partnership without FDIC cover. wiki.private.law. https://wiki.private.law/en/brown-brothers-harriman. Version 12b1929eedd22d10e76dd71237d09b9d6bf44a7320a0b6837929f12e8a9218ff.
Topics: banking
Jurisdictions: usa, cayman
Functional tags: private-banking
Product tags: bank, wealth-planning, investment, custody, lombard-credit, trust, family-office
Semantic tags: private-banking, bank, wealth-planning, investment, custody, lombard-credit, trust, family-office

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## Concept

**Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH)** is the oldest and largest US private bank in partnership form: owned by its partners with no outside shareholders, 39 partners and 63 principals, in its 14th generation of leadership. **Type**: a "private banker" licensed by the NYDFS — taking deposits, making loans and custodying assets, but [**not covered by FDIC insurance**](https://www.bbh.com/content/dam/bbh/external/www/capital-partners/investment-management/insights/client-disclosure-document-2025/Client%20Disclosure%20Document%202025.pdf)**: the offset is the partners' unlimited liability**. Founded in 1818; headquartered at 140 Broadway, New York. The managing partner is William Tyree; from 1 January 2027 he will be succeeded by Kevin Stone.

## History and evolution

The roots are Alexander Brown (Baltimore, 1800); John A. Brown & Co. in Philadelphia in 1818; the current form dates to the 1 January 1931 merger with Harriman Brothers (partners included Prescott Bush and W. Averell Harriman). After Glass-Steagall the partners chose private banking and spun securities underwriting into Harriman, Ripley. In 2021–2022 the agreed sale of the institutional Investor Services business to State Street for $3.5bn was [terminated on regulatory grounds](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93751/000009375123000489/stt-20221231.htm) — the business stayed within the partnership.

Scale at 30 June 2026: $6.2tn of assets under custody and administration, $120bn under management across the group; the multi-family office holds ~$58.5bn (end-2024). Over 6,000 staff across 18 offices.

> 🍓 BBH is not an FDIC bank: deposits are not covered by insurance; the primary regulator is the NYDFS. The offset is the partnership model with owners' unlimited liability and a conservative balance sheet. The trust subsidiaries (BBH Trust Company, N.A.; Delaware) are OCC-supervised national trust banks; BBH Trust Company (Cayman) is CIMA-regulated.

## Regulation

- **NYDFS** — Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (the Private Banker licence);
- **OCC / Federal Reserve** — the group's national trust banks; **CIMA** — BBH Trust Company (Cayman);
- **SEC / FINRA** — the fund advisory department (adviser to the BBH funds) and broker BBH Investments LLC;
- the international offices (Dublin, Luxembourg, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Zurich and others) are predominantly institutional Investor Services under local supervision.
## Source of funds and compliance

Onboarding runs through the partnership team; public frameworks are the USA PATRIOT Act and jurisdiction eligibility notices. Dated episode: a FINRA fine of $8m (February 2014) for AML-program failures around penny-stock transactions; no fresh public enforcement was identified. The standard [source-of-funds](https://wiki.private.law/source-of-funds) file applies.

> 💡 Prepare the source-of-wealth file in advance: sale of a business, dividends, inheritance. The mechanics are covered in the guide on [documenting source of funds](https://wiki.private.law/source-of-funds).

## Who it serves

- **private business owners and families**: no official minimum is published; per the press, historically ~$5m per account (median $10m) — unofficial;
- **family offices** — the Capital Partners multi-family format (~$58.5bn);
- **institutions** — custody and fund administration ($6.2tn); BBH serviced ~25% of new US ETF launches in 2023;
- Latin American clients — dedicated private-banking offices (New York, Latin America, Chicago).
## Services

### Private banking and family

- deposits and private-client lending, wealth advice, trusts and estates, philanthropy; a focus on private business owners (Corporate Advisory & Banking);
- the Center for Women & Wealth.
### Investment management

- actively managed equity and fixed-income strategies, separate accounts, BBH funds and ETFs;
- private equity and alternatives: BBHCP Private Equity, BBH Cedar Street Equity, alternative credit, real estate.
### Institutional core

- global custody, cross-border fund services, ETF servicing, FX, depositary functions, the Infomediary data platform.
## Entities and booking centres

| Jurisdiction | Legal entity | Format and supervisor | Role for the client |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| US | Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., New York | partnership, NYDFS (Private Banker) | private banking and the multi-family office |
| Cayman | BBH Trust Company (Cayman) Ltd | trust entity, CIMA | trusts for international families |
| Europe / Asia | offices in Dublin, Luxembourg, London, Zurich, Hong Kong, Tokyo and others | local supervision | predominantly institutional Investor Services |

## Strengths

- 200+ years of uninterrupted partnership with no outside shareholders and no government support in 2008;
- unlimited partner liability as a substitute for deposit insurance;
- a strong focus on private business owners and family offices;
- institutional-scale custody and ETF servicing alongside the private bank.
## Where it does not fit

- clients for whom FDIC insurance is critical — it is absent by design;
- those seeking international booking for private clients: private banking is American, the foreign hubs are institutional;
- fortunes below ~$5m (per the press);
- clients who want public reporting: the partnership publishes little.
BBH is the American partnership for business owners and family offices: the price of the model is no FDIC cover and minimal public figures; the answer is unlimited partner liability and two centuries of continuity.

## Q/A

### Entry and model

### What minimum capital does BBH require?

The firm publishes no official minimum. Per the press: historically ~$5m per account with a $10m median. The separate Capital Partners multi-family format targets families and family offices of comparable scale.

### Deposits without FDIC — how does that work?

BBH is a "private banker" licensed by the NYDFS and sits outside FDIC insurance. The model's logic: partners are liable for the firm's obligations with all their property, and the balance sheet is kept conservative. The trust subsidiaries are separate: OCC-supervised national trust banks and a CIMA-regulated Cayman entity.

### What remains after the failed State Street sale?

The $3.5bn sale of the institutional Investor Services business was terminated in November 2022 — State Street could not obtain regulatory approvals. BBH stated it does not plan to sell the business; custody and fund administration stayed within the partnership.

### History

### Are the partners really liable with all their property?

Yes: BBH is a private partnership, and the partners carry unlimited personal liability for the firm's obligations — a form surviving from the 19th century. For a client it is a layer of owner motivation in place of deposit insurance.

### Who runs BBH?

Managing partner William Tyree; succession was announced on 17 September 2026: from 1 January 2027 the firm will be led by Kevin Stone (at BBH since 1992, CFO and partner). Investment policy is led by partners Justin Reed (CIO) and Scott Clemons (strategist).

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