Johnson
Matthey plc - (en)
Johnson Matthey plc is a British chemical company which has its
headquarters near Holborn in central London. It is traded on the
London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Johnson Matthey traces its origins to 1817, when Percival Norton
Johnson set up business as a gold assayer in London. In 1851 George
Matthey joined the business and its name was changed to Johnson &
Matthey. The following year the firm was appointed Official Assayer
& Refiner to the Bank of England.
Johnson Matthey Bankers
In the 1960s, Johnson Matthey formed a subsidiary Johnson Matthey
Bankers, which took its seat in the London Gold Fixing.
In the early 1980s the bank expanded its activities outside the
bullion business, and by making high-risk loans provided over half of
the parent company's profits in 1983. The quality of some of these
loans turned out to be worse than expected, and the size of them
exceeded the capital of the bank. To prevent a wider banking crisis,
the Bank of England organised a rescue package in the evening of 30
September 1984, including purchasing JMB for £1.
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