The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services to both retail and institutional clients. It has over 360 branches, primarily in financial centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is the 7th largest banking institution in the United States with over US$ 8.5 trillion in client assets. It had 29.0 million active brokerage accounts, 2.1 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.5 million banking accounts, and $8.5 trillion in client assets as of Feb 7, 2022. It was founded in San Francisco, California and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas. Founded as Charles Schwab & Co. in 1971 by its namesake Charles R. Schwab, the company capitalized on the financial deregulation of the 1970s to pioneer discount sales of equity securities. After a flagship opening in Sacramento, the bank expanded into Seattle before the 1980s economic expansion financed the bank's investments in technology, automation, and digital record keeping. The first to offer round-clock order entry and quotation, it was purchased by Bank of America in 1983 for $55 million. Three years later, the profitability of the bank's no-charge mutual funds prompted the founder to buy his company back for $280 million.