- Hansabank
Hansabank is a
bank operating inEstonia ,Latvia , andLithuania owned by the FöreningsSparbanken/Swedbank , a Swedish bank. Following a decision taken by the Swedbank group on 15 September 2008, the Hansabank name will be discontinued in 2009 with all operations rebranded under the Swedbank name. [ [http://www.balticbusinessnews.com/Default2.aspx?ArticleID=6495d733-2705-4ef8-a5f2-3ba0f1a35474&readcomment=1 Hansabank to be rebranded as Swedbank] ]Origins
The history of the Hansabank Group dates back to 1 July 1991 when "Hansapank" started operating as a branch of
Tartu Kommertspank (Tartu Commercial Bank) in Estonia. Officially Hansapank launched independent operations on 10 January 1992.Expansion
The following year the bank set up its first subsidiary,
AS Hansa Liising (Hansa Leasing), which focused on selling leasing products. In 1995 Hansabank also opened a branch in Riga, the capital of the neighbouring country Latvia and Hansa Liising's subsidiary, AS Hansa Leasing Latvia, was also launched. In1996 Hansabank Group was formed and Hansabank's Latvian consumer banking was expanded through a merger with the German-Latvian Bank (Deutsche-Lettische Bank).In 1996, Hansabank established its presence in the largest of the Baltic states, Lithuania. Differently from Estonia and Latvia, the first company set up there was Hansa Leasing Lithuania. The year 1998 marks the period of mergers in the history of the bank. In April 1998, Hansabank merged with
Eesti Hoiupank . In June 1998, the holding company of the Hansa Leasing Group, Hansa Capital, and Hoiupanga Liising (Hoiupank Leasing) signed a sales agreement. In September 1998, Hansabank Latvia and Hoiupank's Latvian subsidiary,Zemes Banka , signed a merger agreement.The same year Swedish FöreningSparbanken (currently
Swedbank ) obtained over 50 per cent of Hansabank's shares through a share issue. In 2005 Swedbank made a buy-out offer to the minority shareholders and as of today Hansabank is a fully-owned subsidiary of Swedbank Group.In July 1999, Hansabank's Lithuanian subsidiary Hansabankas opened its doors to clients in Vilnius, adding commercial banking to the services provided by Hansabank Group in Lithuania.
On 10 March 2005 Hansabank successfully completed the acquisition of the Moscow-based OAO Kvest bank in Russia, which briefly operated under the Hansabank brand but has since been renamed Swedbank.
National names and rebranding as Swedbank
Hansabank operates under the names: Hansapank (in
Estonia ), Hansabanka (inLatvia ), Hansabankas (inLithuania ) and Hansabank internationally.Source: [http://www.hansabanka.lv/engl/docs/uznemumi.php Hansabanka] Source: [http://www.hansagroup.com/eng/aboutgroup_overviewofgroup_briefhistory.html Hansabank Group]The Swedish banking group Swedbank obtained 50% of the group shares in
1998 . It now owns 100% of Hansabank.In the Baltic states, the main competitor of the Hansabank Group is the Swedish banking group SEB, which owns
SEB Eesti Ühispank ,SEB Unibanka andSEB Vilniaus bankas .Following the decision to rebrand the bank under the Swedbank name, a number of branches have already been renamed as Swedbank. The legal name of the bank will change in spring 2009 and the process of changing brand will be completed by Autumn 2009.
See also
*
Hanseatic League for historical basis of name.External links
* [http://w.hansa.ee/eng/ Hansapank's (Estonia) homepage]
* [http://www.hansabanka.lv/engl/ Hansabanka's (Latvia) homepage]
* [http://www.hansa.lt/en/ Hansabankas' (Lithuania) homepage]
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