[2] The company serves diverse clients, including corporations, institutions, and individuals, offering financial expertise and technological platforms to support their objectives.

The loan was orchestrated by Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, and it paid the salaries of United States Congress members and President George Washington.

[19][20] Following the Civil War, the bank loaned money to many major infrastructure projects, including utilities, railroads, and the New York City Subway.

In the 1990s, Vladimir Kirillovich Golitsyn [ru] or "Mickey" Galitzine[c] established and headed the Eastern European Department at the Bank of New York until 1992 and hired many Russians.

[46] EMAT and the wealth management firm Lockwood Financial Partners, which was originally formed as Lockwood Advisors in 1995 and was based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, specialised in providing independent financial investment advisory services to brokers of high-net-worth individuals; it went on to become one of the largest independent advisory companies in the United States before both firms were sold to the Bank of New York in 2002, while Gerald L Hassell was president of Bank of New York.

[78] The bank invested in and helped found numerous industrial firms in the late 1800s and early 1900s including Alcoa, Westinghouse, Gulf Oil, General Motors and Bethlehem Steel.

[4][5] In October 2008, the U.S. Treasury named BNY Mellon the master custodian of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.

[87] According to the results of a February 2009 stress test conducted by federal regulators, BNY Mellon was one of only three banks that could withstand a worsening economic situation.

[99][100] NEXEN uses open source technology and includes components such as an API store, data analytics, and a cloud computing environment.

[111] In November 2017, BNY Mellon performed the United States banking industry's first real-time payment transaction using a system set up by The Clearing House.

The transaction moved a nominal amount between accounts at BNY Mellon and U.S. Bancorp in three seconds, inaugurating the first new payment clearance and settlement system for the US in over 40 years.

[119] That same year, BNY made history by selecting minority-, veteran-, and woman-owned firms as bookrunners for a $500 million debt offering.

[120] Additionally, the company increased its minimum wage for U.S.-based employees by 12.5%, raising the hourly rate from $20.00 to $22.50, and expanded its mental health resources.

[122] BNY offers technology, services and expertise across its platforms to support clients on a global scale, helping them create, administer, manage, transact, distribute and optimize their assets.

[104] In July 2018, the company changed its headquarters again, this time to its existing 240 Greenwich Street location in New York (previously addressed 101 Barclay St).

BNY also supports governments in funding local projects and works with over 90% of the top 100 pension plans to safeguard assets for individuals.

[125][132] Other offerings include global collateral services, foreign exchange, securities lending, middle and back office outsourcing, and depository receipts.

BNY Pershing provides clearing and custody, trading and settlement services, a variety of investment solutions, middle and back office support, data insights and business consulting to clients in the wealth and institutional segments.

[154] As of 2024, the company's board members were Linda Z. Cook, Joseph J. Echevarria, M. Amy Gilliland, Jeffrey A. Goldstein, K. Guru Gowrappan, Ralph Izzo, Sandie O’Connor, Elizabeth E. Robinson, Robin Vince, and Alfred W. “Al” Zollar.

[159] In 2014, the company worked with the Forbes Fund to create a platform that connects nonprofit organizations with private businesses to solve social challenges.

[158][163] In 2009, Karen Peetz co-founded the BNY Mellon Women's Initiative Network (WIN), a resource group for female employees' professional development.

In December 2017, another lawsuit alleged that BNY Mellon manipulated foreign exchange rates was filed by Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund.

This led to the bank being unable to calculate net asset value (NAV) for 1,200 mutual funds via automated computer system.

[190] In December 2016, another major technology issue caused BNY Mellon to be unable to process payments related to the SWIFT network.

[191] According to a New York City Comptroller audit in April 2017, BNY Mellon was in violation of a privately owned public space (POPS) agreement for at least 15 years.

In constructing the 101 Barclay Street building in Lower Manhattan, BNY Mellon had received a permit allowing modification of height and setback regulations in exchange for providing a lobby accessible to the general public 24 hours a day.

Auditors and members of the public had been unable to access or assess the lobby for many years, and were actively prevented from doing so by BNY Mellon security.

[196] BNY Mellon settled foreign bribery charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2015 regarding its practice of providing internships to relatives of officials at a Middle Eastern investment fund.

[203][204] In 2011, South Carolina sued BNY Mellon for allegedly failing to adhere to the investment guidelines relating to the state's pension fund.

[207] In December 2018, BNY Mellon agreed to pay nearly $54 million to settle charges of improper handling of "pre-released" American depositary receipts (ADRs) under investigation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).