1.
Legend Holdings
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Formed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lenovo was originally Legend Computer, until the English name was changed in 2004. Its Chinese name however remains the same, 联想, in June 2012, Liu stepped down as chairman of Legend Holdings, the parent company of Lenovo. In the years just prior to his resignation, Liu focused on improving Legends growth, building-up its core assets, Legends major assets include Lenovo, Legend Capital, a real-estate venture called Raycom, Digital China, and Hony Capital. Liu said that he realises that his vision is extremely ambitious and he said agriculture will become the next strategic development area for Legend Holdings. Liu says agriculture is just one part of what he sees as huge opportunities in sectors that cater to Chinese consumers, in the same interview, Liu said that Legends focus will continue to remain on China. Whatever we do has to fit something we are doing in China. Liu said in July 2012 that he plans to take Legend Holdings public with a listing in Hong Kong, forbes speculated that Liu may be trying to create a Chinese version of General Electric. As of March 2015, Legend Holdings planned a public offering for July of that year to raise about HK$23.4 billion. The firm worked with UBS and China International Capital Corp to submit its IPO application to Hong Kong regulators, in early June 2015, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange approved Legends planned stock offering. As of this date, Legend said it planned to go through with the offering in late June, Liu Chuanzhi said in an interview that he plans to carry out a stock offering for Legend on one of Chinas domestic exchanges before he retires. Joyvio is Legend Holdings vehicle for investment in the food industry, Legend has invested more than 1 billion yuan in Joyvio. Joyvio will pursue complete vertical integration from farming all the way to retailing, in November 2013, its product range was expanded to kiwifruit. The kiwifruit has been branded Liu Kiwi in honour of Liu Chuanzhi, Liu is responsible for Legends move into food. Since 2011 Joyvio has been acquiring farms around the world including blueberry farms in Shandong and Chile and kiwifruit farms in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, the firm has plans to start selling cherries and grapes from the United States, Australia, and Chile by the end of 2013. Joyvio has taken advantage of Legends experience in technology to set up a tracking system to ensure the quality and safety of its products. Customers can scan codes on its packages in order to find out what farm the product came from, who supervised production, what tests were performed, and information on the soil and water quality. The company is applying the original design manufacture business model common in the technology industry in order to work effectively with small family farms. Joyvio holds training exercises with farmers in order to them to deal quickly and effectively with bad weather
2.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
3.
Dexia
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Asset Management and Services provided asset management, investor and insurance services, in particular to clients of the two other business lines. In 2008, the bank received taxpayer bailouts for €6 billion, as part of the resolution, Dexia Bank Belgium was bought out from the Dexia group by the Belgian state, and will continue to exist under its new name Belfius. The remaining part of the Dexia group was left in a bad bank, in the 2010 Fortune Global 500 Dexia was ranked 49th, the top-ranked Belgian company. The company was founded in 1996 through the merger of Gemeentekrediet van België/Crédit Communal de Belgique, the Dexia Group was founded as a dual-listed company, but in 1999 the Belgian entity took over the French entity to form one company. The company is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, France and Belgium just injected another combined €5.5 billion into Dexia. 1860 – Foundation of the Gemeentekrediet van België / Crédit Communal de Belgique, the communities were shareholders, for a value of at least 5% of the amounts drawn. 1947 – Development of a network of branches that allow drawing funds from the general public through savings accounts. From 1960 on the branches were run by independent agents, allowing a range of services and products to be offered. 1990 – Start of the expansion of the bank with the creation of the Cregem International Bank in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 1991 – The Gemeentekrediet builds on its expansion by taking a stake of 25% in the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. In early 1992 the firm increased its stake in BIL to 51%,1987 – Foundation of the Crédit Local de France as a successor to the CAECL, it was a public administrative institution, managed by the Caisse des dépôts. 1990 – The Crédit Local de France begins an international expansion with the opening of an American subsidiary, the CLF New York Agency. Aiming at a development in Europe, the CLF mainly operated in Great Britain, Spain, Germany and Italy, additional activities were later added in Austria, Scandinavia. 1991 – Crédit Local de France underwent a public offering on the Paris Stock Exchange. The shareholders at the time were the French State, the Caisse des dépôts,1996, Merger of the Gemeentekrediet / Credit Communal de Belgium and the Crédit Local de France to form Dexia. 1997, Dexia takes a stake of 40% in the Italian firm Crediop,1998, Dexia increases its shareholding in Crediop to 60%. 1999, First listing of Dexia Group as a company on the Brussels and Paris stock exchanges in November. In Belgium the stock became part of the BEL20 index, the group broadens its insurance activities in France, Belgium and Germany
4.
KBL European Private Bankers
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KBL European Private Bankers, founded in 1949, is headquartered in Luxembourg with a pan-European presence in nine countries. With over 2,000 staff and €41 billion in assets under management and €39 billion in assets under custody, the group provides a range of additional investment solutions through its Global Investor Services, Global Financial Markets and Asset Management departments. The group has subsidiaries across eight European countries, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain, precision Capital is ultimately owned by members of the Al Thani family of Qatar. On May 23,1949, Kredietbank Luxembourg officially became a bank in the Grand Duchy. In the early days, KBL had only five employees on its payroll, including the CEO, since its founding, KBL epb has continued to expand across Europe through organic and inorganic growth. Its offerings have increased as well to include, for example, global investor services, life insurance and credit
5.
The Economist
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The Economist is an English-language weekly magazine-format newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited at offices in London. Continuous publication began under its founder, James Wilson, in September 1843, in 2015 its average weekly circulation was a little over 1.5 million, about half of which were sold in the United States. The publication belongs to the Economist Group and it is 50% owned by the English branch of the Rothschild family and by the Agnelli family through its holding company Exor. The remaining 50% is held by investors including the editors. The Rothschilds and the Agnellis are represented on the board of directors, a board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. Although The Economist has an emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough of Westminster. For the year to March 2016 the Economist Group declared operating profit of £61m, previous major shareholders include Pearson PLC. The Economist takes a stance of classical and economic liberalism which is supportive of free trade, globalisation, free immigration. The publication has described itself as a product of the Caledonian liberalism of Adam Smith and it targets highly educated readers and claims an audience containing many influential executives and policy-makers. The publications CEO described this recent global change, which was first noticed in the 1990s and accelerated in the beginning of the 21st century, on the contents page of each issue, The Economists mission statement is written in italics. The Economist was founded by the British businessman and banker James Wilson in 1843, to advance the repeal of the Corn Laws, articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties. An article on the principles of political economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue. Parliamentary reports, with focus on commerce, agriculture and free trade. Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade, general news from the Court of St. Jamess, the Metropolis, the Provinces, Scotland, and Ireland. Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation. A commercial gazette, with prices and statistics of the week, correspondence and inquiries from the news magazines readers. It has long respected as one of the most competent. Its logo was designed in 1959 by Reynolds Stone, in January 2012 The Economist launched a new weekly section devoted exclusively to China, the first new country section since the introduction of a section about the United States in 1942
6.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
7.
Erste Group
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After the demise of Communism, the company started a strong expansion into Central and Eastern Europe and by 2008 it had acquired 10 banks. In 1997, it went public and today the company is listed on the exchanges of Vienna, Prague and Bucharest and included in the indices CEETX, ATX, Erste Group now includes all companies of the Group. In a ranking by Forbes Magazine of the worlds largest stock corporations in 2013, after restructuring and going public, Erste Bank – at the time the uniform organization – embarked on its expansion strategy into Central and Eastern Europe. The first takeover was the Hungarian Mezőbank in 1997, after carrying out another capital increase, the expansion continued. In 2000, majority stakes were acquired in the Czech Česká spořitelna, also in 2000, three small Croatian banks were merged to create Erste & Steiermärkische Bank d. d. following their takeovers as of 1997 by Erste Bank and the Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG. In 2003, Riječka banka was merged with Erste & Steiermärkische Bank, the stake owned by Erste in these subsidiaries has been 55. 1% ever since. The number of the employees at the end of 2008 was 9,985, in July 2005, Erste Bank signed the purchase agreement for the acquisition of 83. 28% of the shares in Novosadska banka a. d. Novi Sad, from the Republic of Serbia, with the acquisition of the bank, Erste Bank entered the Serbian market which promises enormous growth potential. In 2007, Erste acquired 100% of Bank Prestige in Ukraine, in April 2013, Erste Group sold its Ukrainian subsidiary for around EUR63 million to the owners of the Ukrainian Fidobank. The sale was in line with Erste Groups strategy to focus on the business in the eastern part of the European Union. Ukraine been growing more and more distant from the EU politically in the last few years, in 2008, the foreign business of Erste Bank was transferred to the newly founded Erste Group. s. Slovakia, Slovenská sporiteľňa Hungary, Erste Bank Hungary Zrt, croatia, Erste & Steiermärkische Bank d. d. Novi Sad Romania, Banca Comercială Română Slovenia Banka Sparkasse d. d, in October 2011 it said it expected a full year loss of up to EUR1.1 billion, after making writedowns and provisions of EUR1.6 billion. This would be its first loss since at least 1988 and it said the writedowns were due to government intervention in Hungary, where it is forced to take losses on Swiss franc mortgages, and a slower than expected recovery in Romania. It will also delay a plan to some of the state aid received in 2009. From 2009 to 2012, the Republic of Austria received annual payments from Erste Group of EUR98 million. As of year end 2015, Erste Group achieved a net profit of EUR968.2 million,4. 2% lending growth and a CET1 ratio of 12. 3%. In the spring of 2016,4.500 employees of Erste Group, of Erste Bank Oesterreich, the cornerstone had been laid on June 26th 2012
8.
Oesterreichische Nationalbank
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The Oesterreichische Nationalbank is the central bank of the Republic of Austria and, as such, an integral part of both the European System of Central Banks and the Eurozone. In the public interest, the National Bank of Austria contributes to monetary and economic policy decision-making in Austria, in line with the Federal Act on the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, the OeNB is a stock corporation. Given its status as a bank, it is, however, governed by a number of special provisions. The OeNBs capital totals EUR12 million and is held by a sole shareholder, the shareholder rights of the federal government are exercised by the Federal Minister of Finance. Since May 2010 this capital is held by the state of Austria. Previously half of the capital was in the hands of employer and employee organizations as well as banks, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank was started in 1816 by Johann Philipp Stadion, Count von Warthausen in the reign of Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria. The foundation of this followed a period of high currency devaluation in Austria during the war times when paper money was issued by the Habsburg state. e. In addition, the OeNB manages reserve assets, i. e. Economy of Austria Euro Austrian schilling National Bank of Austria
9.
Raiffeisen Bank International
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It has subsidiaries in, amongst others, Ukraine, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Switzerland. The largest of these subsidiaries by far is Raiffeisenbank which accounts for 74 percent of the companys pretax profit, the RZB Group is the third largest Austrian bank. As of end-2010, the balance total of the RZB Group amounted to 136.5 billion euros. The incorporation meeting of the shareholders of the centre of the Austrian Raiffeisen cooperatives was held on 16 August 1927. The founding took place roughly four decades after the establishment of the first Austrian savings, the original company name was Girozentrale der österreichischen Genossenschaften. From 1953 on, the new name was Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank Aktiengesellschaft, since 1989, the bank has been named Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft, abbreviated as RZB. Along with this, the staff also increased significantly, rising to 85 employees at the end of its first decade of existence. In 1938, one day after the German occupation of Austria, it was taken over by a provisional administrator, the bank was not returned to its pre-war owners until 1955. In the 1950s, GZB began to expand and transform its foreign operations and this was also clearly reflected in the banks growth, with the number of staff rising to almost 200 by 1957. At the end of the 1950s, the bank began to found specialised companies or to invest in them, working with the co-operatives also allowed the institution to offer each and every Raiffeisen bank and its customers a universal range of financial services. The product portfolio of the Raiffeisen Banking Group was further expanded with the founding of Raiffeisen Building Society, Raiffeisen Insurance, Raiffeisen Leasing and this very early strategic decision to expand into Central and Eastern Europe proved to be one of the most important decisions in RZBs history. Along with Austria, RZB considers CEE to be its home market, the subsidiary bank Raiffeisen Bank International was formed merging Raiffeisen International Bankholding AG and the corporate banking business and related participations from RZB. RZB currently holds a stake of approximately 78. 5% and operates one of the largest banking networks in CEE, in 2005, it bought Ukrainian Bank Aval, and renamed its subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank Aval. In 2007, Raiffeisen made €1.48 billion, 79% of it from operations abroad, a group of 10 central and eastern European banks, which included Raiffeisenbank Chairman Herbert Stepic as spokesman, asked the ECB to extend their bailout. In June 2013, Raiffeisen supported the nationalised Volkesbanken by purchasing a package of poor loans worth $300mn from them, roughly half of the loans Raiffeisen and its subsidiaries have made in Ukraine were in U. S. dollars, while many loans in Hungary were in Swiss francs. As local currencies tumble, those loans have become more expensive for borrowers to pay off, the bank has asked the Austrian taxpayer to buy preferred shares of Raiffeisen valued at €1.75 billion in a capital-raising measure. The coupons would pay 9. 3% annual interest and must be repaid within five years, in 2015 the Raiffeisen Bank made a profit once again. This in part lead to the bank postponing the 2014 announced sale of its Polish subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank Polska SA, another factor that affected the banks decision to wait with the sale was the elaborate demands by Polish regulators for bank sales
10.
KBC Bank
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KBC Bank N. V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises. KBC is an acronym for Kredietbank ABB Insurance CERA Bank, the parent company, KBC Group N. V. is one of the major companies and the second largest bancassurer in Belgium. It is the 18th largest bank in Europe and a major player in Central and Eastern Europe, employing some 51,000 staff worldwide. The group is controlled by a syndicate of shareholders, but has a free float of some 41%. In the core shareholders, KBC Ancora controls 23%, MRBB controls around 13%, CERA 7%, the free float was chiefly held by a large variety of international institutional investors as of the end of 2010. Its shares are traded on the Euronext exchange in Brussels and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the private Art collection of KBC bank is situated in the Rockox House in Antwerp. The Catholic Volksbank van Leuven, founded in 1889, was one of the earliest predecessors of the KBC Bank, another predecessor was the Bremer Vorschussverein, founded in 1889 and changed later into Bankverein Bremen AG. In 1935, the banks Algemeene Bankvereeniging and Volksbank van Leuven merged with the Bank voor Handel en Nijverheid to create the Kredietbank, the Kredietbank would be the only Belgian financial institution under Flemish control which would survive the financial crisis of the great depression of the 1930s. Fernand Collin, who became president in 1938, conceived the strategy which would lead to the growth of the bank. He defined the Kredietbank as an independent bank with a decidedly Flemish character which would be an instrument to further Flemish economic growth, during World War II, the bank would be able to expand its activities and grow its deposits from the Flemish middle class. After the war, because of the recovery, the Kredietbank. The postwar growth strategy of the bank, emphasized foreign expansion, the bank expanded into Luxembourg in 1949 with the Kredietbank S. A. Luxembourgeoise and into Wallonia with the establishment of the Crédit Général de Belgique in 1961. The Kredietbank also expanded into Belgian Congo and it established a branch in Léopoldville in 1952. Due the situation emerging after the independence of Belgian Congo in 1960, in the sixties, driven by increasing competition, the bank worked on the expansion of its branch network and improvement of consumer services. In 1966, the bank began building a foreign-correspondent network and the establishment of branches in New York, London, the Cayman Islands, and a subsidiary in Geneva. In 1970, together with six other European institutions, Kredietbank established the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, the Kredietbank N. V. Bruxelles acquired the main part of the shares from the Bankverein Bremen AG since 1982. The branch in Bremen was renamed to Kredietbank-Bankverein AG in 1990, in 1998, the Kredietbank merged with two financial institutions originating from the Boerenbond, ABB-insurance and CERA Bank, to form the KBC Bank and Insurance Holding Company. Since then, the group has expanded its activities, chiefly in Central
11.
Bank of Cyprus
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Bank of Cyprus is a major Cypriot financial institution. In terms of market capitalisation, of €1.24 Billion on 24 March 2017, it is the countrys biggest bank. As at December 2016, the bank held a 31. 1% share of the Cypriot deposit market, the Bank of Cyprus Group employs 4,284 staff worldwide and 4,000 in Cyprus. The Bank of Cyprus currently operates through a total of 127 branches/business offices, of which 122 operate in Cyprus, four in the United Kingdom, the group has representative offices in Greece, Russia, Ukraine and China. The shares of the bank are listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, the Bank is the largest listed company on the CSE in terms of market capitalization. Since October 8,2007 the Bank of Cyprus has been part of the Cyprus 10 Index, the Bank of Cyprus was also listed on the Athens Exchange since 2000 and had been part of the FTSE/Athex Large Cap index from 9 October 2006 until March 2013. However, in late 2016 it has announced plans to de-list from Athens on 9 January 2017, all except TD Asset, Tyrus and the Cyprus Popular Bank have a seat on the board of directors. The bank adopted as its emblem the ancient Cypriot coin bearing the inscription ΚΟΙΝΟ ΚΥΠΡΙΩΝ and this is the first Cypriot bank, all the other banks in Cyprus are foreign-owned. 1912 The Nicosia Savings Bank became a company and changed its name to Bank of Cyprus. 1930 The BoC incorporated as a limited company,1943 The BoC amalgamated with Famagusta Bank and Larnaca Bank. 1944 The BoC acquired the Melissa Bank, Paphos, the Mortgage Bank of Cyprus was established. 1945 BoC merged with the Cyprus Savings Bank, which had established in Nicosia in 1908. 1953 BoC merged with Paphos Popular Bank,1955 BoC opened its first branch abroad when it opened in London to serve the Cypriot community there. 1960 BoC established a subsidiary, Bank of Cyprus Ltd, xeros, Morphou and Zodhia, Golden Sands, Kato Varosha, Kennedy Avenue, Democratias Avenue, Evagoras Avenue and Oceania, Yialousa, Rizokarpaso and Lysi, and Kyrenia, Karavas and Lapithos branches. 1982 BoC acquired Standard Chartered Banks Cypriot operations, BoC also opened a representative office in Greece. 1986 BoC opened a office in Australia. 1991 BoC established its first branch in Greece, kolonaki branch was located at the corner of Vasilissis Sophias Avenue and Sekeri Street, and also boasted a Business Banking Centre and the banks treasury. In the summer of 2009, this and Mitropoleos Street branches were merged to form the new Syntagma Square branch,1995 BoC opened a representative office in South Africa, and a branch in Heraklion, Crete
12.
Hellenic Bank
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Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd, is the second largest bank on the island of Cyprus with a 12. 6% share of deposits and 7. 4% of the loans market as of December 2016. By market capitalisation of 165 Million Euro as at 23 March 2017 it is the second largest Cypriot bank and its shares are listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The bank was founded in 1976 with technical assistance from Bank of America, a major shareholder was traditionally and for many years, the Church of Cyprus. The board is composed of representatives of the top two shareholders, in January 2011, Hellenic Bank started operating in Russia but later, in 2014, sold the Russian operation The bank also has representative offices in Kiev, St Petersburg, Moscow and South Africa. It has also opened a office in Athens, Greece in 2016. On 25 March 2013 Hellenic Bank sold its Greek branches to Piraeus Bank, as of 27 March 2013, former Hellenic Bank customers could use the ATMs of all Piraeus Bank Group banks free of charge. The process of merging the operations of the former Hellenic Bank network in Greece into Piraeus Bank was completed in mid-July 2013 and this was followed by the closure of the vast majority of the former Hellenic Bank branches and the dismissal of its personnel. In 2015 EBRD acquired a 5. 4% share in Hellenic Bank, in 2016, Hellenic Bank received a Global Finance Magazine award for the third consecutive year as the Best Digital Bank in Cyprus and was upgraded to B rating by Fitch
13.
Danske Bank
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Danske Bank is a Danish bank whose name also literally translates into Danish Bank. It was founded 5 October 1871 as Den Danske Landmandsbank, Hypothek- og Vexelbank i Kjøbenhavn, headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail customers. Danske Bank was number 454 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011, the Danske Bank group operates a number of local banks around the Nordic Region as well as across Ireland. The Danske Bank branches in Baltic states began operating in 2008 after Finnish Sampo Bank was acquired by Danske Bank Group in 2007 for €4.05 billion, Danske Bank, formerly Sampo Bank, is Danske Banks Finnish operations. Sampo Bank was acquired by the Danske Bank Group in 2007, Sampo Bank traces its origins back to 1887, Originally the Finnish state-owned Post and Savings Bank, which accepted deposits from the public at its post offices. In 1999, the bank was merged with Sampo PLCs insurance business to form the Sampo Group. The banking unit was acquired by Danske Bank in 2007. Danske Banks Northern Irish subsidiary was founded as the Northern Banking Partnership in Belfast in 1809 and it became Northern Bank in 1970, after merging with the Belfast Banking Company. Northern Bank was one of the Big Four banks in Ireland, the bank is considered one of the leading retail banks in Northern Ireland with 82 branches and four finance centres. Danske Bank is one of the four banks in Northern Ireland which are permitted to issue their own banknotes. Danske Banks Irish subsidiary was known as the National Irish Bank. In 1987, both banks were acquired by National Australia Bank, in 1988 the Republic of Ireland operation was renamed National Irish Bank Limited whilst Northern Bank Limited remained the name of the Northern Ireland operation. Nonetheless, a management team continued to run both banks, which shared many services and back office functions. During this era, the logo of the National Irish Bank was that of the National Australia Bank, except that the red star had been recoloured green, the original Northern Bank logo had been the Midland Bank griffin. The rebrand was completed on 18 November 2012, at the time the bank closed its 27 branches to focus on corporate and private clients. On 31 October 2013 Danske Bank announced it would be withdrawing all personal banking services in the Irish Republic on a basis in the first half of 2014. Danske Bank has set up its own captive technology centre in India called Danske IT, Danske Bank corporate website Yahoo Finance
14.
Jyske Bank
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Jyske Bank A/S is the third largest Danish bank in terms of market share. The headquarters are located in Silkeborg, and the bank has offices, branches, or subsidiaries in Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It is the third-largest bank to be listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, the current CEO of Jyske Bank is Anders Dam. The bank employs some 4000 individuals and these banks trace their roots back to the mid-19th Century. 1968 - Jyske Bank acquired Banken for Brædstrup og Omegn,1970 - Jyske Bank acquired Samsø Bank. 1970 - Jyske Bank acquired Odder Landbobank,1981 - Jyske Bank acquired Copenhagen-based Finansbanken, giving it national coverage. 1983 - Jyske Bank acquired Vendelbobanken,1989 - Jyske Bank acquired Holstebro Bank. 2011 - Jyske Bank acquired most of Fjordbank Mors and this is the oldest Scandinavian-owned subsidiary in Switzerland. In 1985 the subsidiarys name became Jyske Bank,1983 - Jyske Bank established an office in London and three years later upgraded it to a branch. 1984 - Jyske Bank established an office of Jyske Bank Private Banking in Fuengirola on the Spanish Costa del Sol. 1987 Jyske Bank acquired Banco Galliano in Gibraltar, a family-owned bank, Jyske Bank acquired Hamburger Handelsbank, giving it a branch in Hamburg. 1988 - Jyske Bank converted its representative office in Spain into a subsidiary that it converted back to a representative office. 2002 - Jyske bank formed an alliance with Nykredit to become a major actor in the Danish finance industry. 2003 - Jyske Bank established representative office for Jyske Bank Private Banking in Cannes,2004 Jyske Bank established a representative office in Poland to conduct private banking. Jyske Bank acquired 60% of Berbens Effectenkantoor in Echt, Netherlands,2007 - Jyske Bank Private Banking closed the offices in Warsaw and Fuengirola. 2008 - Jyske Bank closed its branch in London, JN Data A/S Jyske Finans A/S Silkeborg Datacentral A/S Jyske Bank Jyske Bank Ltd
15.
Roskilde Bank
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Roskilde Bank was a local Danish bank founded in 1884. It was based in Roskilde with branches over much of Region Hovedstaden and it merged in 1996 and was taken over by the Danish National Bank in 2008. Roskilde Bank was founded in 1884 and in 1996 merged with Ringsted Sparekasse, on the 24 August 2008 it was acquired by the Danish National Bank after running into financial trouble due to the decline of the Danish property market. The Bank remains formally listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, the Bank had approximately 32,000 shareholders. The Bank was, according to the Finance Councils statement, Denmarks 10th largest bank and this was the first time since 1928 that the Danish National Bank had taken over another bank. The loss is assumed to be between £3-6 billion, but circulating allegations maintain that the loss in the worst case could amount to 37 billion Kroner, the 33000 shareholders also stand to lose their money. On the 29 September 2008 Roskilde Bank signed agreements for the sale of a total of 21 branches, including 9 branches to Nordea,7 branches to Spar Nord Bank and 5 branches to Arbejdernes Landsbank
16.
Sydbank
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Sydbank A/S is one of Denmarks largest full service banks headquartered in Aabenraa. Sydbank was founded in 1970 with the merger of four local banks based in Southern Jutland, Den Nordslesvigske Folkebank, Graasten Bank, Folkebanken for Als og Sundeved and Tønder Landmandsbank. It has since grown considerably through mergers and acquisitions, one of the latest being DiskontoBanken of Næstved. Through the early 1970s, Sydbank had only 50 branches — all in south Jutland — until 1976 when it opened its first branch across the Kongeå River in Fredericia, in 1983, Sydbank opened an office at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen and merged with the Aarhus Bank. In 1984, it engaged in merger with Fuen Bank and Co-established bank with a branch in Flensburg. In 1985, came a branch in Hamburg, in 1987, the company created Sydbank Investment branch Sydinvest and purchased parts of Copenhagen-based 6th July Bank, which had gone into receivership in March of that year. In 1988, it purchased Sydbank Community Bank branches in Copenhagen, the bank ended the decade with a market share of just two percent,70 branches and 1,400 employees. Sydbank merged in 1990 with Sparekassen South Jutland and it acquired Varde Bank in early 1994, including 30 West Jutland departments. In May 1994, it bought Sydbank Active Bank and 40 East Jutland offices from Topdanmark, since 2000, Sydbank has become a thriving, growing, robust and high-earning bank that has offices in almost all parts of Denmark. Sydbank acquired Odense Bank Egnsbank Funen in 2002 and began to open branches in central Jutland and Sealand and it opened the subsidiary Sydbank AG in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 2002. In 2007, it sold Sydbank DMK-Holding to Ebh Bank and opened offices in Kiel, in 2008, the company purchased Trelleborg Bank, headquartered in Slagelse. Sydbank is now one of Denmarks largest full service banks based in Southern Jutland, the Bank has a market share in the sector around seven percent, approximately 2,600 employees and 115 branches - including three in Germany. The Executive Director since 1982 Carsten Andersen, the Board is in addition to Carsten Andersen, Karen froze, Preben Lund Hansen and Allan Nørholm. Sydbank founded SydbankFonden in 2002 which annually awards millions of dollars to charitable, cultural and popular applications
17.
OP Financial Group
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OP Financial Group is one of the largest financial companies in Finland. It consists of 180 cooperative banks and their central organization, the financial group has over 1.4 million customer-owners. The group offers retail and commercial banking services all over Finland as well as insurance services, in 2014 the group acquired the remainder of the shares of Pohjola Bank and consolidated its services under the OP brand. Therefore, OP-Pohjola shortened its name OP, oP’s new headquarters is located in Vallila, Helsinki, and opened in 2015. The company’s predecessor was founded in 1891 when the insurance company Palovakuutus-Osakeyhtiö Pohjola commenced its operations. Pohjola Bank was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1922, the first local cooperative credit societies was founded in 1902 after it received a large loan from the Finnish state. The central organization for cooperatives was founded in 1928 as an ideological organization between local branches, since the business environment has changed and banking regulation has tightened, the central organization has increased its influence on local banks significantly. In 2005 the central organization of OP Financial Group became a shareholder of Pohjola Bank. The remainder of the shares were acquired in 2014, in 2014 OP announced plans to expand into the health and wellbeing market. It already operates one hospital in the Helsinki region but plans to new ones in the near future under the Pohjola brand
18.
S-Bank
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S-Bank Ltd is the bank of the S-Group, a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation. S-Bank is the first so called supermarket bank in Finland, the co-operative did, and the bank continued to, offer a relatively high interest to deposited funds. It was 2. 5% in February 2008, although this was cut to 0. 2% due to the global recession since 2008, the existing network of supermarket service desks is used to service customers. However, Internet-based electronic banking is recommended and provided at no cost to the customer, visa credit and debit cards are available
19.
BNP Paribas
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BNP Paribas is an international banking group with a presence in 75 countries. It is listed on the First Market of Euronext Paris and is included in the CAC40 index, at 31 December 2016, net income attributable to equity holders was EUR7,702 million. BNP Paribas is one of the largest banks in the world, the retail bank also operates in the Mediterranean region and in the west of the United States. It was formed through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris, the company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. BNP Paribas has the highest brand value in France and its brand value increased EUR590 million to reach EUR14.7 billion in 2015. BNP Paribas was the 2nd leading bank in the zone in 2016. The Banque Nationale de Paris S. A. resulted from a merger of two French banks – Banque nationale pour le commerce et lindustrie and Comptoir national descompte de Paris – in 1966. The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas S. A. or Paribas, was formed from two investment banks based respectively in Paris and Amsterdam, in 1872, Les Pays-Bas is French for the Netherlands. In May 2000, BNP and Paribas merged to form BNP Paribas, on 7 March 1848, the French Provisional Government founded the Comptoir national descompte de Paris in response to the financial shock caused by the revolution of February 1848. The upheaval destroyed the old system, which was already struggling to provide sufficient capital to meet the demands of the railway boom. The CEP grew steadily in France and overseas, although in 1889 there was a crisis in which it was placed in receivership. The former banks headquarter and staff were used to create BNCI with fresh capital of 100 million francs, the bank initially grew rapidly through absorbing a number of regional banks that got into financial trouble. After the Second World War, it continued to grow steadily and it grew its retail business in France and its commercial business overseas in the French colonial empire. After the end of the Second World War, the French state decided to put banks, rené Pleven, then Minister of Finance, launched a massive reorganization of the banking industry. In 1966, the French government decided to merge Comptoir national descompte de Paris with Banque nationale pour le commerce et lindustrie to create one new bank called Banque Nationale de Paris. The bank was re-privatised in 1993 under the leadership of Michel Pébereau as part of a second Chirac governments privatization policy and it went on to develop a strong investment banking business both domestically in France and overseas. During the period 1872 to 1913, it was involved in raising funds for the French and it helped the French government raise funds during the First World War and raised further capital and expanded into investments into industrial companies during the Great Depression. It stagnated and lost assets during the Second World War, after World War II, it missed the nationalisation of the other French banks due to its status as an investment bank and managed to take advantage of that by expanding its operations overseas
20.
Groupe Banque Populaire
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Groupe Banque Populaire is a French group of cooperative banks. It is controlled by 18 regional banks, the CASDEN Banque Populaire, in 2006, Groupe Banque Populaire created a new company with another French cooperative banking group, Groupe Caisse dEpargne in order to create Natixis. The new Investment Bank is the result of the spin-off of the two Investment Banks of the two groups, Banque Populaires Natexis and Caisse dEpargnes IXIS Corporate and Investment Bank, Natixis is equally controlled by the two groups. The companies merged in 2009 to form the Groupe BPCE and retain their separate retail banking brands, Banque Populaires chief executive officer Philippe Dupont has been nominated to head the enlarged company. Groupe Banque Populaire Caisse dEpargne Banque Populaire website
21.
HSBC France
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HSBC France SA is a subsidiary of HSBC, headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was formed on 1 November 2005 when HSBC rebranded CCF S. A. together with its subsidiaries UBP, Banque de Picardie, HSBC had acquired CCF in 2000, the bank changed its name to HSBC S. A. and then to HSBC France. About half of the networks of CCF - Union de Banques à Paris, Banque Hervet, Banque de Picardie. This represents a 380 strong network of branches in France with a strong presence in the Paris region. Other group operations in France include a significant HSBC Private Bank presence, along with a major Corporate Institutional Banking, the Paris trading floor is the Groups second largest trading floor in Europe. HSBC France had seven regional subsidiaries with 420 branches, but sold them to Banque Populaire in 2008. These regional subsidiaries were Société Marseillaise de Crédit, Banque de Savoie, Banque Chaix, Banque Marze, Banque Dupuy, Banque de Parseval, Banque Pelletier, when HSBC acquired CCF, CCF was operating with 650 branches and assets of €69 billion. In April 2000, HSBC Holdings plc announced its intention to acquire the bank and that month, HSBC Holdings plc listed on the Paris Stock Exchange for the first time. The acquisition enabled HSBC to establish itself in one of the main European markets, CCF continued to expand with the purchase of Banque Pelletier and Banque Hervet. CCF won a bidding-war for Banque Hervet, which the French government was re-privatizing, when its bid of $480 million beat out bids from Paribas, Credit du Nord - Dexia, with the acquisition of CCF, HSBC acquired CCFs stake in Lombard Bank in Malta. At the time, HSBC already owned the largest bank in Malta, in 2002, HSBC sold its shares in Lombard Bank Malta to Swiss-based Banca Unione di Credito. HSBC was already operating in Egypt through HSBC Bank Egypt, in 2002, CCF acquired 11 branches outside Paris from Banque Worms/Deutsche Bank. HSBC Holdings plc HSBC Bank plc HSBC France website HSBC France bank profile
22.
Natixis
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Natixis is a French corporate and investment bank created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of Natexis Banque Populaire and IXIS. Groupe BPCE owns more than 70% of Natixis while the float is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. Natixis provide financial data for the Markets section on the news channel, on October 26,2010, Natixis Global Asset Management has acquired a majority stake in asset management start-up ‘Ossiam’. Corporate & Investment Banking Includes Capital Markets, Debt & Finance, Capital Markets encompass equities, commodities, fixed-income, forex, derivatives and structured products. Asset Management Natixis Global Asset Management is the 14th largest asset management firm in the world with $734 billion in assets under management as of September 30,2012, subsidiaries include Natixis Asset Management, Harris Associates, Loomis Sayles, Nexgen FS and Reich & Tang. Private Equity & Private Banking Natixis Private Banking unit includes Banque Privée 1818, services Business lines include insurance, securities, financial guarantees, and consumer finance. Coface deals in risk analysis, supporting corporates in account receivables,2014, Natixis owns 41, 24% of Coface. List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Securities Official website
23.
Berenberg Bank
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KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank, is a Hamburg-based multinational investment banking and private banking company, founded by the Belgian-origined Berenberg family in 1590. It is the worlds oldest merchant bank, the banks name refers to Johann Berenberg and Johann Hinrich Gossler, and has remained unchanged since 1791. The bank is organized as a partnership with personally liable partners. Following the 2000s financial crisis, the bank has grown rapidly, the current senior partner and head of the bank Hans-Walter Peters is also President of the Association of German Banks. The Berenberg Company was founded in Hamburg in 1590 by the brothers Hans, the bank has been continuously owned by their descendants ever since. The Berenbergs were originally cloth merchants and quickly extended their business to other commodities, Hans Berenbergs grandson Cornelius Berenberg was the first to engage in merchant banking and developed the company into a very successful merchant house and merchant bank. He forged trade links with France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, family connections of the Berenbergs were instrumental to the development, especially in Livorno and Lisbon with their colonies of wealthy Dutch merchants. Cornelius Berenbergs son, Rudolf Berenberg, was elected a Senator, that is, by the mid 18th century, investment banking and acceptance credits comprised a significant part of the firms activities. Rudolf Berenberg was married to Anna Elisabeth Amsinck, a daughter of the Lisbon and Hamburg merchant Paul Amsinck and their sons, Senator Paul Berenberg and Johann Berenberg, became owners of the Berenberg company. In 1768 Senator Paul Berenberg died childless, while his brother Johann Berenberg lost his son in the same year. The Gossler family is known since the 17th century, when Johann Hinrich Gosslers great-grandfather was a Hamburg burgher, Elisabeth Berenberg was the last member of the Hamburg Berenberg family, which became extinct in the male line upon her death in 1822. Johann Hinrich Gossler and Elisabeth Berenberg were the founders of the Berenberg-Gossler family, in 1788 Johann Hinrich Gossler took on a new partner, his son-in-law L. E. Seyler, who had married his eldest daughter Anna Henriette Gossler, from 1790, the company was led by L. E. Seyler, and his mother-in-law Elisabeth Berenberg was a partner in her own right from 1790 to 1800, Seylers brother-in-law Johann Heinrich Gossler joined the firm in 1798 and became a Hamburg senator in 1821. Under Seylers leadership, the name was changed to Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. effective from 1 January 1791, Berenberg refers to Johann Berenberg, Gossler refers to Johann Hinrich Gossler and Co. originally refers to L. E. Seylers children were briefly co-owners of Berenberg Bank, they have many prominent descendants in Hamburg and Norway, with names such as von Hosstrup, Wegner. Her younger brother Johann Heinrich Gossler s son Hermann Gossler was a senator, the latters younger brother Johann Heinrich Gossler became a partner at Berenberg Bank and was the father of Baron Johann von Berenberg-Gossler, who also became a partner at the bank
24.
BHF Bank
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BHF-Bank is a private German bank owned by Oddo & Cie. It was one of the leading German investment banks in the 1970s and 1980s, the bank has an international presence, with branches in Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UAE, Egypt and Vietnam. BHF-Bank was formed on 1 January 1970 as the Berliner Handels- und Frankfurter Bank from the merger of the Frankfurter Bank, in 1970, when the BHF-Bank tower was built by the German architect Sep Ruf, it was the highest building in Frankfurt. The banks changed its name to BHF-Bank in 1975, through the 1970s and 1980s it was in the top three to five investment banks in West Germany and had a top position in the foreign exchange market. The bank had extensive industrial holdings and its former senior partner, Hanns Schroeder-Hohenwarth, became the President of the German Banks Association from 1983 to 1987. In 1995 the bank went public, changing from a partnership to a corporation, from 1999 to 2004 it was bought by the Dutch ING Group and renamed from 2002 ING BHF-Bank. In the same year it was delisted following the squeeze out of remaining share holders, in 2004 ING BHF-Bank was split. The majority of the business operations, offices and equity shareholdings were integrated into the newly founded BHF-BANK Aktiengesellschaft. Oppenheim was taken over by Deutsche Bank in 2010, BHF-BANK, since 2014, the bank has formed part of BHF Kleinwort Benson Group, which was taken over by the French private bank Oddo & Cie. By mid-March 2016, Oddo & Cie had acquired 100% of BHF Kleinwort Benson Group’s shares, BHF-BANK Foundation was set up in 1999 to improve Germany society. It has supported the Senckenberg Museum in acquiring new exhibits and the Frankfurt Red Cross with emergency rescue equipment
25.
Commerzbank
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Commerzbank AG is a global banking and financial services company founded in 1870 with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It offers its clients retail and commercial financing services, investment banking services, asset management, Commerzbank was founded in 1870 by individual and merchant bankers in Hamburg, Germany. Woermann was the first chairman of the board of Commerz- und Disconto-Bank from 1870. The bank grew through a series of over 50 mergers, acquisitions and restructures in the period through hyperinflation. In 1940, the name Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, by which the bank was known, was officially adopted. With the division of Europe after World War II, three banks were united in 1958 to form Commerzbank AG, which had its headquarters in Düsseldorf. Commerzbank stepped up its financing activities and started expanding around the globe. From 1970 onwards, the administrative activities were shifted to Frankfurt am Main. What was left of Commerzbank Securities was folded into a division of the bank called Corporates. To get “sustainable profitability”, in 2016 Commerzbank planned to cut 9,600 jobs or about a fifth of its workforce in 4 years, the Commerzbank Tower is the tallest building in Frankfurt and in Germany, measuring 300,1 m to the top of the antenna. The 56-story building was designed by British architect Norman Foster and was Europes first ecological skyscraper, for more than a decade, Commerzbank was involved in laundering hundreds of billions of dollars out of Iran, Sudan, and Myanmar, against US sanctions. Media related to Commerzbank at Wikimedia Commons Official website
26.
Deutsche Bank
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Deutsche Bank AG is a German global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers in Frankfurt. It has more than 100,000 employees in over 70 countries, and has a presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific. In 2009, Deutsche Bank was the largest foreign exchange dealer in the world with a share of 21 percent. The company was a component of the STOXX Europe 50 stock market index until being replaced on that index on August 8,2016, the bank offers financial products and services for corporate and institutional clients along with private and business clients. Deutsche Bank’s core business is investment banking, which represents 50% of equity, 75% of leverage assets, in January 2014, Deutsche Bank reported a €1.2 billion pre-tax loss for the fourth quarter of 2013. This came after analysts had predicted a profit of nearly €600 million, revenues slipped by 16% versus the prior year. On 7 June 2015, the then co-CEOs, Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, Anshu Jains resignation took effect on 30 June 2015, but he provided consultancy to the bank until January 2016. Juergen Fitschen temporarily continued as joint CEO until 19 May 2016, the appointment of John Cryan as joint CEO was announced, effective 1 July 2016, he became sole CEO at the end of Juergen Fitschens term. In January 2016, Deutsche Bank pre-announced a 2015 loss before income taxes of approximately €6.1 billion, Deutsche Bank was founded in Berlin in 1870 as a specialist bank for foreign trade. The banks statute was adopted on 22 January 1870, and on 10 March 1870 the Prussian government granted it a banking licence, three of the founders were Georg Siemens whose fathers cousin had founded Siemens and Halske, Adelbert Delbrück and L. Bamberger. Its first foray overseas came shortly afterwards, in Shanghai and London followed sometime by South America, major projects in the early years of the bank included the Northern Pacific Railroad in the US and the Baghdad Railway. In Germany, the bank was instrumental in the financing of bond offerings of steel company Krupp, the second half of the 1890s saw the beginning of a new period of expansion at Deutsche Bank. The bank formed alliances with large banks, giving itself an entrée into Germanys main industrial regions. Joint ventures were symptomatic of the then under way in the German banking industry. In addition, the bank rapidly perceived the value of specialist institutions for the promotion of foreign business, the immediate postwar period was a time of liquidations. Having already lost most of its assets, Deutsche Bank was obliged to sell other holdings. A great deal of energy went into shoring up what had been achieved, but there was new business, too, some of which was to have an impact for a long time to come. The bank played a significant role in the establishment of the production company, UFA
27.
Deutsche Bundesbank
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The German Federal Bank, known in German as the Deutsche Bundesbank, is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks. Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB, both the German Federal Bank and the European Central Bank are located in Frankfurt, Germany. It is sometimes referred to as Buba for Bundesbank, while its official abbreviation is BBk, the Bundesbank was established in 1957 and succeeded the Bank deutscher Länder, which introduced the Deutsche Mark on 20 June 1948. Until the euro was introduced in 2002, the German Federal Bank was the central bank of the former Deutsche Mark. Nowadays, the ECB also uses the Bundesbank model, making the concept the foundation of the entire Euro system, the Bundesbank was greatly respected for its control of inflation through the second half of the 20th century. This made the German Mark one of the most respected currencies, the history of the Bundesbank is inextricably linked with the history of the German currency after the Second World War. The currency reform was based on laws enacted by the Allied military government, in preparation, the Western Powers established a new two-tier central bank system in the occupied zones, in its federal structure, it was modeled on the Federal Reserve System of the USA. It comprised the central banks of the states of the West German occupation zones and the Bank deutscher Länder in Frankfurt am Main, the central banks of the Länder acted as central banks within their areas of jurisdiction. The supreme governing body of the central bank system was the Central Bank Council set up at the Bank deutscher Länder. It consisted of a president, the presidents of the banks of the Länder. Amongst other things, the Central Bank Council determined policy on bank rate and minimum reserve policy, open-market policy guidelines, after the negative experience with a central bank subject to government orders, the principle of an independent central bank was established. The Bank deutscher Länder was independent of German political bodies from the start, including the federal German government and it achieved independence from the Allies in 1951. The legislature fulfilled this obligation by passing the Bundesbank Act of 26 July 1957, the central banks of the Länder were now no longer independent note-issuing banks, but became regional headquarters of the Bundesbank, nevertheless retaining the title state central bank. The Central Bank Council remained the supreme decision-making body of the Bundesbank and it was now made up of the presidents of the central banks of the Länder and a board of directors based in Frankfurt. The Central Bank Council decided on the currency and credit policy, as the central executive body of the Bundesbank, the Directorate was responsible for implementing the decisions of the Central Bank Council. The Directorate was made up of the president and the vice-president of the Bundesbank, the central banks of the Länder carried out business falling in their areas independently. The Bundesbank Act explicitly made them responsible for dealings with public bodies, the central Banks of the Länder also controlled the subsidiary bodies, now called branches. Overall management of each Land central bank was in the hands of its board, which as a rule consisted of the president
28.
Deutsche Postbank
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Deutsche Postbank AG is a German retail bank with headquarters in Bonn. Postbank was formed from the demerger of the postal division of Deutsche Bundespost in 1990. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post in 1999, Deutsche Post retained a controlling stake of 50% plus one share until September 2008, when 30% of this was sold to Deutsche Bank for €2.8 billion. Deutsche Bank gained a majority stake in the firm through a tender offer completed in December 2010, in the end, the total purchase cost Deutsche Bank €6 billion. The Postscheckdienst was introduced in 1909 by the German Reich establishing accounts for payment transactions by mail and linking postal, in 1990, following the German Postal Services Restructuring Act of 1989, the German Postal Service was divided into three companies, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Postbank. Later that year, Deutsche Post Postbank of the former East Germany was merged with Postbank, from 1990 to 1997, Dr. Guenter Schneider was chairman of the board. The first board of Postbank consisted of Guenter Schneider, Rudolf Bauer, on 1 January 1995, following the new postal reform legislation of 1994, Postbank became an independent, joint stock company. Postbank then extended operations, and engaged in loans, insurance, in 1999, Deutsche Post became the owner of Postbank. In that same year, Postbank acquired DSL Bank by the sale of the governments shares, Postbank subsidiary easytrade began offering on-line brokerage services in 2000. Postbank purchased BHF Holdings Inc. in 2001, by 2003, Postbank had 11.5 million customers, more than any other bank in Germany. On 1 January 2004 the postal bank took over the banking of the Deutsche Bank. From then on Postbank executed the clearing and settlement of Deutsche Bank and this agreement strengthened the bank’s new business field Transaction Bank in the apron of the announced Initial Public Offering. The IPO of Postbank on 23 June 2004 was the largest stock market launch in Germany for the past 2 years, on 25 October 2005 Postbank announced its intention to acquire a 76.4 percent stake of the home financing specialist, Beamten-Heimstättenwerk. With the acquisition of BHW Deutsche Postbank became Germany’s leading financial services provider for retail customers, on 1 January 2006 the purchase of BHW Holding by Deutsche Postbank was concluded. Beyond that Deutsche Postbank took over 850 branches from Deutsche Post, along with the change in ownership, around 9,600 employees switched employer, bringing Postbanks workforce to over 25,000 employees. In October 2010, Postbank put its Indian finance business up for sale
29.
DZ Bank
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DZ Bank AG is the third largest bank in Germany by asset size and the central institution for more than 1,000 co-operative banks and their 12,000 branch offices. DZ Bank is an acronym for Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, as a holding, the DZ Bank Group defines itself primarily as a service provider for the local cooperative banks and their 30 million or so clients. DZ Bank is a member of CIBP, EACB, the Euro Banking Association, DZ Bank is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany and maintains branches, subsidiaries and representative offices in key financial centers and economic regions worldwide. The DZ Bank building in Berlin, located at Pariser Platz 3, was designed by architect Frank Gehry, DZ Bank also has one of the most significant collections of contemporary artistic photography which today comprises over 6,000 works by more than 550 artists. In 2016 DZ Bank was merged with WGZ Bank, the institute of the co-operative banks of Rhineland. Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken Official website
30.
JPMorgan Chase
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a U. S. multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest bank in the United States, the third largest bank by total assets, with total assets of roughly US$2.5 trillion. It is a provider of financial services, and according to Forbes magazine is the worlds sixth largest public company based upon a composite ranking. The hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is the second largest hedge fund in the United States, the company was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J. P. Morgan & Co. The J. P. Morgan brand, historically known as Morgan, is used by the investment banking, asset management, private banking, private wealth management, and treasury & securities services divisions. Fiduciary activity within private banking and private wealth management is done under the aegis of JPMorgan Chase Bank, the Chase brand is used for credit card services in the United States and Canada, the banks retail banking activities in the United States, and commercial banking. The corporate headquarters is located at 270 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the retail and commercial bank is headquartered in 270 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, U. S. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is considered to be a universal bank. As of 2016, JPMorgan Chase is one of the Big Four banks of the United States, followed by Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. JPMorgan Chase, in its current structure, is the result of the combination of several large U. S. banking companies since 1996, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank One, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. The Chase Manhattan Bank was formed upon the 1955 purchase of Chase National Bank by the Bank of the Manhattan Company, the Bank of the Manhattan Company was the creation of Aaron Burr, who transformed The Manhattan Company from a water carrier into a bank. This of course injected a powerful element of politics into the process and invited what today would be called corruption, the innocuous-looking clause allowed the company to invest surplus capital in any lawful enterprise. Within six months of the creation, and long before it had laid a single section of water pipe, the company opened a bank. Still in existence, it is today J. P. Morgan Chase, weakened by the real estate collapse in the early 1990s, it was acquired by Chemical Bank in 1996, retaining the Chase name. Before its merger with J. P. Morgan & Co. the new Chase expanded the investment, in 1999, it acquired San Francisco-based Hambrecht & Quist for $1.35 billion. In April 2000, UK-based Robert Fleming & Co. was purchased by the new Chase Manhattan Bank for $7.7 billion, the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company was founded in 1823 as a maker of various chemicals. In 1824, the company amended its charter to perform banking activities, in the 1980s and early 1990s, Chemical emerged as one of the leaders in the financing of leveraged buyout transactions. In 1984, Chemical launched Chemical Venture Partners to invest in equity transactions alongside various financial sponsors. At many points throughout history, Chemical Bank was the largest bank in the United States
