Hansabank
Encyclopedia
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
operating in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
owned by the FöreningsSparbanken/Swedbank
Swedbank
Swedbank AB is a leading Nordic-Baltic banking group with 9.5 million retail customers and 534,000 corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In Sweden, the group has 377 branches. In the Baltic countries, it has another 224 branches...
, a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
bank. Following a decision taken by the Swedbank group on 15 September 2008, the Hansabank name was discontinued in 2009 with all operations rebranded under the Swedbank name.
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 EstoniaEstonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Officially Hansapank launched independent operations on 10 January 1992.
Hansabank was founded in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
by Hannes Tamjärv, Jüri Mõis
Jüri Mõis
Jüri Mõis is an Estonian politician and businessman, who was mayor of Tallinn between 1999 and 2001, and who was the Minister of Internal Affairs between March 25 and November 5, 1999. He is one of the three founders of Hansapank.-References:...
, Rain Lõhmus and Heldur Meerits.
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. In 1996 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
Swedbank
Swedbank AB is a leading Nordic-Baltic banking group with 9.5 million retail customers and 534,000 corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In Sweden, the group has 377 branches. In the Baltic countries, it has another 224 branches...
) 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 EstoniaEstonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
), Hansabanka (in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
), Hansabankas (in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
) and Hansabank internationally.
| Business unit | Scope of activities |
|---|---|
| Hansapank, Estonia | Retail banking, Corporate banking, Asset management, Investment management, Leasing (hire-purchase) |
| Hansabanka, Latvia | Retail banking, Corporate banking, Asset management, Financial markets, Leasing (hire-purchase) |
| Hansabankas, Lithuania | Retail banking, Corporate banking, Asset management, Leasing (hire-purchase) |
Source: Hansabanka
Source: 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
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB is a Swedish financial group for corporate customers, institutions and private individuals with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Its activities comprise mainly banking services, but SEB also carries out significant life insurance operations and also owns Eurocard...
, which owns SEB Eesti Ühispank
SEB Eesti Ühispank
SEB is an Estonian bank, owned by the Swedish bank SEB. SEB is the second largest bank in Estonia and is the member of the international SEB Group. Until 11 April 2005 the name of the bank was Eesti Ühispank...
, SEB Unibanka
SEB Unibanka
SEB banka , owned by SEB, is one of the largest banks in Latvia. The bank was established after regaining independence from USSR by consolidating earlier financial structures, such as Bank of Agricultural Industry. Nowadays its main rivals in the Latvian banking market are Hansabanka and Parex bank....
and SEB Vilniaus bankas
SEB Vilniaus bankas
SEB Bank , a subsidiary of Swedish SEB Group, is a commercial bank of Lithuania. It was registered as a public company in the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Lithuania on 29 November 1990...
.
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.