Amalgamated Bank reorganizes into public benefit corporation

New York-based Amalgamated Bank completed on March 1 its previously announced holding company reorganization and became the first publicly traded financial services company to be a public benefit corporation.

Amalgamated Financial Corp., the new bank holding company, will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the same ticker, AMAL.

As a public benefit corporation, Amalgamated Financial is a for-profit corporation explicitly committed to considering the impact of its decisions on factors beyond shareholder return, including its workers, customer, community and the environment. Its new certificate of incorporation states that the company's purpose, while engaging in commercial banking, "shall include creating a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, from the business and operations of the bank."

"The creation of Amalgamated Financial Corp. as a public benefit corporation is an extension of our mission to be America’s socially responsible bank and a leader in driving social change that builds a more just and sustainable world," CFO Drew LaBenne in a news release.

There are about 4,000 certified B corporations globally, according to the release.