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…
Sberbank's history goes back to Cancrin's financial reform of 1841, when a network of the first state-owned savings banks was created in Russia. By the end of the 19th century, the network reached almost 4 thousand outlets with over 2 million depositors. Since 1905, savings bank outlets became authorized to sell insurance. After 1910, savings banks started subsidizing credit cooperation institutions and extending loans to small lenders. In 1915, savings bank outlets started accepting government securities for depositing.
In post-Soviet Russia, Sberbank is the largest universal bank despite growing competition from private and other state-owned commercial banks. The bank has gradually expanded its international presence. Since 2007, Sberbank is led by former economy minister Herman Gref.
Presently, Sberbank is a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company headquartered in Moscow. The company was known as "Sberbank of Russia" until 2015. Sberbank has operations in…
ADCB India began operations in 1980 with the objective of further developing Indo-UAE trade relations and catering to the remittance and savings needs of the non-resident Indians working in the UAE and other countries in the GCC region. Over the last 30 years, ADCB has been in India serving these "niche" segments through its two branches - one in Mumbai and one in Bengaluru. The India operations of ADCB are organised into three business segments: Liabilities, Corporate Banking and Trade Finance (CTF), and Treasury. The Indian operations of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank date back to 1980, when the former "Emirates Commercial Bank" was set up on December 9, 1980. On this day, the Bank commenced branch operations at its present premises in 75, Rehmat Manzil, Veer Nariman Road, Mumbai, 400020. In 1985, three commercial banks operating in the UAE were merged as a result of an Amiri Decree and a new bank was established under the name Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. The banks that merged were the…
Woori Bank, headquartered in Seoul, is the second bank from South Korea to enter Indian market. Sinhan Bank, a part of Sinhan Financial Group, has set up its first branch in Mumbai in 1996, and has two more branches, one in New Delhi and another one in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu.
Woori Bank is a subsidiary of the parent company Woori Financial Group. The bank was founded back in 1899, originally called Daehan Cheon-il Bank, renamed Joseon Sangup Bank in 1911, then Commercial Bank of Korea in 1950s. Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, it merged with the former Hanil Bank and Peace Bank to become Hanvit Bank. Woori Bank adopted its current name in 2002. Woori Bank has served the Seoul Metropolitan Government for over 100 years and is the primary banking partner of 70 percent of Korea's public institutions. Its Jongno branch is located in the Gwangtonggwan, the oldest continuously-operating bank building in Korea. It was registered as one of city's protected monuments on March…
Credit Suisse's founder, Alfred Escher, was called, "the spiritual father of the railway law of 1852," for his work defeating the idea of a state-run railway system in Switzerland in favor of privatization. Escher founded Credit Suisse (originally called the Swiss Credit Institution, i.e., Schweizerische Kreditanstalt) in 1856 primarily to provide domestic funding to railway projects, avoiding French banks that wanted to exert influence over the railway system. Escher aimed to start the company with three million shares and instead sold 218 million shares in three days. The bank was modeled after Crédit Mobilier, a bank funding railway projects in France that was founded two years prior, except Credit Suisse had a more conservative lending policy focused on short-to-medium term loans. In its first year of operation, 25 percent of the bank's revenues was from the Swiss Northeastern Railway, which was being built by Escher's company, Nordostbahn.
Today, Credit Suisse Group is a Swiss…
ANZ is one of the leading Australian banks in the Asia-Pacific region. It has been aggressive in its expansion into the emerging markets of China, Vietnam and Indonesia. ANZ is also a leading bank in New Zealand as well as several Pacific Island Nation where it competes in many markets with fellow Australian bank Westpac. ANZ's arm in New Zealand is operated through a subsidiary company, ANZ National Bank, from 2003 to 2012, when it changed to ANZ Bank New Zealand upon merging the ANZ and National Bank brands. In March 2005, it formed a strategic alliance with Vietnam's Sacombank involving an acquisition of 10% of Sacombank’s share capital. As part of the strategic alliance, ANZ will provide technical assistance in the areas of risk management and retail and small business banking. ANZ has followed a similar strategy in China, where it acquired a 20% share in Tianjin City Commercial Bank in July 2006. It also negotiated a similar deal with Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank. In August…
HSBC Bank Oman S.A.O.G has operated in the Sultanate since 1948. It provides a wide range of banking services for both corporate and individual customers. In recent years HSBC Oman has expanded to over 90 branches and in addition has a full-service trading operation, private banking operation, and a custodial service for the Muscat Securities Market. In Oman, the HSBC Group is represented by HSBC Bank Oman S.A.O.G. In June 2012, HSBC Bank Middle East´s Oman operations merged with Oman International Bank (OIB), an Omani bank with a rich heritage in the Sultanate which was a public listed joint stock company listed on Muscat Securities Market (MSM) and was renamed as HSBC Bank Oman S.A.O.G (HBON). HSBC has been present in Oman since 1948 and for two decades was the only bank operating in the country. In 1970, it assisted in the first issue of the Omani currency. Over the years, the bank has delivered a number of “firsts” for Oman, including the first to launch ATMs, provide international…
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…
Established in Sydney in 1817, the Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) was the first bank in Australia. Edward Smith Hall was its first cashier and secretary. During the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank opened branches first throughout Australia and Oceania, at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) in 1850, then in Victoria (1851), New Zealand (1861), South Australia (1877), Western Australia (1883), Fiji (1901), Papua New Guinea (1910) and Tasmania (1910). In 1982, BNSW merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia and changed their name to Westpac Banking Corporation. WBC was framed with the mission to become a significant Western-Pacific bank from which the Westpac portmanteau is derived. The brand name incorporated the "W" which had been the logo of the Bank of New South Wales (popularly known as "the Wales"). Today, Westpac Banking Corporation, more commonly known as Westpac, is an Australian bank and financial-services provider headquartered in Westpac Place, Sydney. It is one of Australia's…
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…