The bank is rooted in the ideas of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, the founder of the cooperative movement of credit unions, who in 1864 created the first farmers' bank in Germany. Being a countryside mayor he was confronted with the abject poverty of the farmers and their families. He tried to alleviate this need through charitable aid, but realised that self-reliance had more potential in the long run, and thus converted his charitable foundation into a farmers' bank in 1864. In doing so he created the Darlehnskassen-Verein, which collected the savings of countryside dwellers and provided enterprising farmers with loans. The first was formed as a cooperation of 6 local banks and the latter as a cooperation of 22 local banks. These two existed side by side for three-quarters of a century despite their obvious similarities. The reasons for this owed in part to legal disagreements. The most important difference, however, was cultural. The Eindhoven-based Boerenleenbank had a decidedly…
Shinhan Bank is the descendant of Hanseong Bank, the first modern bank in Korea. It was established by Kim Jong-Han in 1897, but began operating around 1900. It was originally located in a small house with only two rooms. One room was for the president, Yi Jae-Won, and the other room was for the staff. The bank operated by borrowing money from Japanese banks at low interest rates and then loaning it out for twice the rate to the Korean market. The Bank was successful because despite lending out money at twice the rate it borrowed it at, the bank's interest rates were still far lower than what could be obtained elsewhere in Korea at that time. In an anecdotal story the bank's first property to use as collateral on a loan happened to be a donkey. The bank staff were challenged to feed and care for their collateral as the loan was out.
Today, Shinhan Bank is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Historically it was the first bank in Korea, established under the name Hanseong Bank in…
The bank came into being on 14 March 1966 following the merger of two government-owned banks, Kaset Bank and Monton Bank. The merged banks were then named "Krung Thai Bank Limited", bearing its logo as an image of the Vayupaksa bird, which is also used by the Ministry of Finance. KTB's head office was originally located on Yawaraj Road. On 2 August 1989, KrungThai Bank was the first state enterprise to list its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Its major shareholder is the Ministry of Finance through a shareholding of 6,184 billion shares by the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), accounting for 55.31 percent of total shares. In addition to commercial banking activities, KrungThai Bank has served as a government channel for financial services in support of governmental initiatives. It does this by lending to businesses of certain types, such as One Tambon One Product(OTOP) loans, ICT computer loans, and educational loans. Moreover, the bank is used by most…
Société Belge de Banque established the Comptoir Diamantaire Anversois in 1934, in partnership with Banque Transatlantique, Société Internationale Forestière et Minière du Congo (Forminière ), and the De Beers Group. The company was the first financial institution to focus solely and entirely on the needs of the diamond industry; it opened its registered office in the very heart of Antwerp's diamond district.
In 1937, Belgium passed bank reform legislation that allowed the Comptoir Diamantaire Anversois to become a bank. At this point the Comptoir changed its name to Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB) . It also took the opportunity to double its equity base to BEF60 million (approximately 1.5 million euros) by bringing in Kredietbank and Compagnie Financière et Industrielle (Confindus)-Banque de Bruxelles as shareholders. In 1999, KBC Bank acquired the shares in ADB that Generale Bank (which had merged with Société Belge de Banque in 1965), and Banque Bruxelles Lambert (the result of the…
National Australia Bank was formed as National Commercial Banking Corporation of Australia Limited in 1982 by the merger of National Bank of Australasia and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. The resulting company was subsequently renamed National Australia Bank Limited. The expanded financial base of the merged entity triggered significant offshore expansion over ensuing years. Representative offices were established in Beijing (1982), Chicago (branch 1982), Dallas (1983), Seoul (1983, upgraded to a branch in 1990), San Francisco (1984), Kuala Lumpur (1984), Athens (1984, closed 1989), Frankfurt (1985, closed 1992), Atlanta (1986), Bangkok (1986), Taipei (1986 upgraded to branch 1990), Shanghai (1988, closed 1990), Houston (1989) and New Delhi (1989). In 1987, NAB bought Clydesdale Bank (Scotland) and Northern Bank (Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland) from Midland Bank. It re-branded Northern Bank branches in the Republic of Ireland to National Irish Bank and changed both…
Sonali Bank was established in 1972 under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, through the amalgamation and nationalization of the branches of National Bank of Pakistan, Bank of Bahawalpur and Premier Bank branches located in East Pakistan until the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. When it was established, Sonali Bank had a paid up capital of 30 million taka. In 2001, its authorized and paid up capital were Tk 10 billion and Tk 3.272 billion respectively. Presently, its authorised and paid up capital is Tk 10 billion and Tk 9 billion respectively The bank's reserve funds were Tk 60 million in 1979 and Tk 2.050 billion on 30 June 2000. In 2013, $250,000 was stolen from the bank by Cyber criminals using the Swift International payments network. In 2016 the Bank signed an Memorandum of Understanding with PayPal.
Sonali Bank has a total of 1207 branches. Out of them, 343 are located in urban areas, 862 in rural areas, and 2 are located overseas. It also operates the Sonali…
Established on 16 July 1968 by the Government of Singapore to take over the industrial financing activities from the Economic Development Board, the bank's main purpose was to provide loans and financial aid to the manufacturing and processing industries and to help establish and upgrade existing industries in Singapore. In 1960, the Singapore government invited a United Nations (UN) industrial survey mission to assess the economical situation in Singapore and to come up with an industrialization program for the city. The proposal included setting up a development bank, together with an economic body to attract foreign investments and provide financing and managing the industrial estates. The bank was incorporated in July 1968 and began operations in September of the same year.
Presently, DBS Bank is a multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Marina Bay, Singapore. The company was known as The Development Bank of Singapore Limited, before the present…
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was founded by the Commonwealth Bank Act on 22 December 1911, introduced by the Andrew Fisher Labor Government, which favored bank nationalization. In a rare move for the time, the bank was to have both savings and general bank business. The bank was also the first bank in Australia to receive a Federal Government guarantee. The bank's earliest and most strenuous proponent was the flamboyant American-Australian Labor politician, King O'Malley, and its first Governor was Sir Denison Miller. The bank opened its first branch in Melbourne on 15 July 1912. In an agreement with Australia Post that exists to this day, the bank also traded through post office agencies. In 1912, it merged with the state savings bank in Tasmania, and by 1913 it had branches in all six states.
Presently, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Commonly…
BBK, formerly known as The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait B.S.C, was established on 16th March 1971 in accordance with the Amiri decree and started operations a year later. BBK has been the pioneer in Commercial Banking for 41 years in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
In 1972, they began operations with a capital of BD 1 million (US$ 2.5 million). Today, it has grown to become one of the largest commercial banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with a capital base of BD. 303.9 million (US$ 806 million). They have succeeded in building a name and reputation, respected locally as well as internationally. They have a strong local presence with a nationwide network of Financial Malls, branches and ATMs. In addition to domestic branches, they have operations in the State of Kuwait, the Republic of India and through a representative office of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As a market leader, in 2006 they conceived the revolutionary 'Financial Mall' concept, housing partners such as CrediMax credit cards,…
Introducing Bangladesh to its very first private sector bank, AB Bank Limited was incorporated on 31st December, 1981. Arab Bangladesh Bank as formerly known started its effective operation from 12th April, 1982 with the mission to be the best performing bank of the country.
With an ambition to secure its place as the leading service provider, creating lasting value for its clientele, shareholder, and employees and particularly for the community it operates in, AB has formulated a golden heritage and an envious legacy that may not be imitated by many. Achieving plenty of milestones and incorporating numerous changes over the last 35 years, AB has always been authentic to its desire of being the technology driven innovative bank of Bangladesh. To excel this new era of technological triumph, AB has successfully introduced internet banking, SMS banking, cutting edge ICT, state-of-art network solution, 24/7 ATM service and many other e-products. AB has extensively widened its services…