Merchant's Bank of Canada
While still in his thirties Allan became a director of the Bank of Montreal and remained on the board for ten years (1847–57). He also held significant shares in the Commercial Bank of Canada, the Bank of Upper Canada, the Maritime Bank of the Dominion of Canada and the City Bank of Montreal. He was a director of the Montreal Credit Company and president of the Provincial Permanent Building Society which became the Provincial Loan Company in 1875. Hugh Allan founded Merchant's Bank of Canada in Montreal, Quebec in 1864 with a capital of $6.78 million and a reserve fund of $6.8 million.
To service his financial needs and as a source of capital, Allan established the Merchants’ Bank of Canada. Run as a family business, it was chartered in 1861 but did not open until 1864. Allan served as president of the bank until his death when he was succeeded by his brother, Andrew. The bank soon became known as one of Canada's most aggressive. They took over the failing Commercial Bank of Canada and by the mid 1870s had branches in New York and London.
Allan's association with the bank facilitated his growth in other profitable ventures. Allan had interests in new communications technology, manufacturing, and mining. In 1852, he became president of the Montreal Telegraph Company, ultimately selling MTC's "telephone plant" to Bell Telephone for $75,000. He also established coal mines in Nova Scotia and factories for textiles, shoes, paper, tobacco, and iron and steel in Central Canada. The Merchants Bank Building on 92-94 Water Street, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island built 92-94 Water Street built 1871 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.
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