Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Berenberg Bank for short, is a German financial institution

Financial institution

In financial economics, a financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members. Probably the most important financial service provided by financial institutions is acting as financial intermediaries...

 set up under the legal form of a limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft

Kommanditgesellschaft

A Kommanditgesellschaft is the German name for a limited partnership business entity and is used in German, Austrian and some other European legal systems....

) and based in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

History

The bank traces its origin back to the commercial firm founded by Dutch-born Hans and Paul (II) Berenberg in the year 1590 and is thus the oldest existing German bank. In 1769, Johann Hinrich Gossler, the son-in-law of Johann Berenberg, joined the company, which subsequently changed its name to Johann Berenberg & Gossler. In 1772, the male lineage of the Berenberg family became extinct, however, the name of Berenberg lives on in the Gossler family who was granted permission in 1880 to rename itself Berenberg-Gossler. Trade financing is at the core of the company.

In the 19th century, the bank financed the industrialisation process in Hamburg and transportation activities, inter alia HAPAG

Hapag

Hapag may mean:* Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actiengesellschaft , a former German shipping company, see Hamburg America Line or Hapag-Lloyd* 724 Hapag, a minor planet...

, Norddeutscher Lloyd

Norddeutscher Lloyd

Norddeutsche Lloyd was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on February 20, 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic...

 and the ironworks of Ilseder Hütte.

Branches

Berenberg Bank has its head office in Hamburg and operates branches in Bielefeld, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, London, Luxembourg, Paris and Salzburg, as well as representative offices in Braunschweig, Zurich and Shanghai. Zurich moreover accommodates the subsidiary Berenberg Bank (Schweiz) AG. Together with three other financial institutions, the bank additionally holds a stake in Frankfurt-based investment company Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft.

Partners

The partnership structure is as follows:

• Berenberg family 25%
• PetRie Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Dr. Hans-Walter Peters [MD], Hendrik Riehmer) and Managing Partners 25%
• Christian Erbprinz zu Fürstenberg 15%
• Jan Philipp Reemtsma 15%
• Compagnie du Bois Sauvage S.A. 12%.

Berenberg Bank is run by the three partners Dr. Hans-Walter Peters, Andreas Brodtmann and Hendrik Riehmer.

Business segments

The bank is active in the following business segments:

• Private Banking
• Investment Banking
• Institutional Asset Management
• Commercial Banking.

External links

• http://www.berenberg.de/ Retrieved April 2010
• http://www.berenberg-lux.de/