It was formerly a leading British merchant bank and financial services firm before the takeover by TSB Group Plc.

Offering a range of financial services and products with the expertise and fame of its parent company, Hill Samuel Australia began to win significant mandates.

[7] The bank decided to enter the UK securities market buying Wood MacKenzie, a stockbroker, in June 1984.

[9] In 1987, Hill Samuel had suspended trading in its shares on the London Stock Exchange amid signs that it would accept a merger bid from the Union Bank of Switzerland, as the two groups began takeover talks in July.

[10] However, by October of that year a final successful takeover bid was made by the TSB Group Plc., one of the United Kingdom's largest retail banks at the time.