BANK OF BOSTON CORPORATION

American bank holding company whose principal subsidiary is the First National Bank of Boston. Through this subsidiary and others located throughout the United States and abroad, the Bank of Boston Corporation offers its individual and commercial customers a complete range of financial, banking, and trust services. Headquarters for both are in Boston, Mass. The bank, one of the oldest in the United States, was originally chartered in 1784 as the Massachusetts Bank. In 1903 it merged with the First National Bank of Boston (established in 1859 as the Safety Fund Bank) and assumed the latter's name. A number of other mergers and acquisitions preceded the present corporate relationship. The Bank of Boston Corporation was formed in 1970 as the First National Boston Corporation. A reorganization followed that merged First National Bank of Boston and Old Colony Trust Company into the newly formed Massachusetts Bank NA, which then assumed the name First National Bank of Boston. The present corporate name was adopted in 1983. Subsidiaries of the corporation provide numerous services, including lending, cash-management programs, payroll processing, equipment leasing, and data processing. They also offer money-market operations, trust and agency services, factoring, mortgage banking, venture-capital financing, and commercial finance.