Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spółka Akcyjna, commonly using the shorter name Bank Pekao S.A., is a universal bank and currently the second largest bank in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
with its headquarters in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. The Italian bank
UniCredit
UniCredit S.p.A. is an international banking group headquartered in Milan. It is Italy's only systemically important bank (according to the list provided by the Financial Stability Board in 2022) and the world's 34th largest by assets. It was for ...
used to own 59% of the company.
It sold the bank in December 2016. Now
Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń
Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń Spółka Akcyjna (Polish pronunciation: , PZU) () is a publicly traded insurance company, a component of the WIG20 and Poland's biggest and oldest insurance company. PZU is headquartered in Warsaw and also one of t ...
owns 20% of the company,
Polish Development Fund
The Polish Development Fund (PFR) ( pl, Polski Fundusz Rozwoju) is a state-owned financial group, headquartered in Warsaw, which offers instruments supporting the development of companies, local governments and individuals, and invests in sustainab ...
12.80%, UniCredit 6.28% and others 60.94%.
The bank was founded in 1929 by the Ministry of Treasury as a national bank, mainly to provide financial services to
Poles living abroad.
In 1939 the bank had branches in virtually every capital city of countries where Poles lived.
The full name "Polska Kasa Opieki" may be translated literally as "Polish Bank of Aid", and the popular form "Pekao" sounds out the acronym "PKO".
History
Formative years
In 1929, the CEO of
Pocztowa Kasa Oszczędności, Henryk Gruber, observed that there was a demand for a bank that could provide financial services to the eight million
Poles living outside the country. Starting from these assumptions, on March 17, 1929, the Ministry of Finance established Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spółka Akcyjna. On October 29 of the same year, the Warsaw District Court entered Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA in the commercial register. The company's shareholders were Pocztowa Kasa Oszczędności,
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) is a Polish national development bank with headquarters in Warsaw, is a state-owned bank in Poland, operating under a dedicated bill of law. Its main tasks are: support and servicing of export transactions, iss ...
and
Państwowy Bank Rolny.
The first branches were opened in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
(now
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
). By 1939 Pekao had branches in the capitals of most countries where Polish emigres had settled.
People's Republic of Poland
After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the beginning of the
Soviet domination in Poland , the bank took care of international financial operations conducted by the authorities of the newly established
Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
. With the bank's help, the Poles who live abroad could support their families behind the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
. In 1968, the Minister of Finance authorized the establishment of foreign currency accounts for persons working abroad in Bank Pekao. Monopoly on their conduct Pekao lost only in 1989 with the onset of economic reforms that swept in Poland and the
communist bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
.
In the 1970s, currency accounts in Pekao were divided into three categories: Account A for people paying currencies with documented origin,
B accounts for payments with undocumented origin, and C accounts for foreigners. The funds from B accounts could not be legally exported abroad, but in 1976 the rights of A and B accounts were leveled.
In 1974, the bank had around 91,000 registered accounts. At the end of the 1980s, the total value of foreign currency accounts was US$3.3 billion.
Much earlier, in 1960, the bank began issuing its own vouchers, "
Bon Towarowy PeKaO
Bon towarowy PeKaO (or simply Bon PeKaO) cheques were substitute legal tender (complementary currency) used in the People's Republic of Poland. The Polish government, needing hard foreign currency, introduced them in 1960. Citizens of Poland h ...
", denominated in
US dollars
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from Dollar, other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American ...
. Initially, for these vouchers (as well as directly for convertible currencies deposited in domestic and foreign bank representations) it was possible to buy both foreign and deficit domestic goods in the foreign sales network operated directly by Bank Pekao. The offer of the bank for individual clients included a variety of goods covering, among others, groceries (including "Krakus" ham and western chewing gum), alcohol, cosmetics, textiles, household appliances, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, tractors, agricultural machinery, fuel, building materials, installation and sanitary equipment, and also apartments and furniture. This retail network was created with the establishment of the
Pewex
Pewex () (short for ''Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego'' – Internal Export Company) was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other h ...
"internal export" company, in 1972 out of the bank's structures.
On 3 August 1999, Pekao became a member of the
UniCredit company.
In December 2016, Polish state-owned
PZU together with
Polish Development Fund
The Polish Development Fund (PFR) ( pl, Polski Fundusz Rozwoju) is a state-owned financial group, headquartered in Warsaw, which offers instruments supporting the development of companies, local governments and individuals, and invests in sustainab ...
acquired Bank Pekao Poland's second largest bank previously owned by Italian bank
UniCredit
UniCredit S.p.A. is an international banking group headquartered in Milan. It is Italy's only systemically important bank (according to the list provided by the Financial Stability Board in 2022) and the world's 34th largest by assets. It was for ...
by buying a 32.8% stake in the bank for the amount of PLN 10.6 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).
List of directors
List of Bank Pekao
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
s:
* Marian Kanton (1989–1996)
* Andrzej Dorosz (1996–1998)
*
Maria Pasło-Wiśniewska
Maria Pasło-Wiśniewska (born 27 March 1959 in Szamotuły) is a Polish politician. She was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 7,062 votes in 39 Poznań district as a candidate from the Civic Platform (PO) list. In local elections ...
(1998–2003)
*
Jan Krzysztof Bielecki
Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (born 3 May 1951) is a Polish Liberalism, liberal politician and economist. A leading figure of the Gdańsk-based Liberal Democratic Congress in the early 1990s, Bielecki served as Prime Minister of Poland for most of 1991 ...
(2003–2010)
*
Alicja Kornasiewicz
Alicja Józefa Kornasiewicz (born March 19, 1951 in Kańczuga)[Posłowie X kadencji 1989 - 1991](_blank) (2010–2011)
* Luigi Lovaglio (2011–2017)
* Michał Krupiński (2017–2019)
* Marek Lusztyn (2019–2020)
* Leszek Skiba (2020–)
Pekao Group
Apart from Pekao Bank, Pekao Group's subsidiaries are:
* Centralny Dom Maklerski Pekao SA
* Centrum Bankowości Bezpośredniej Sp. z o.o. (call center)
* Pekao Leasing Sp. z o.o.
* Pekao Investment Banking SA
* Pekao Leasing Holding SA
* Pekao Leasing Sp. z o.o.
* Pekao Faktoring Sp. z o.o.
* Pekao Pioneer Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne SA
* Centrum Kart S.A
* Pekao Bank Hipoteczny SA (działalność bankowa)
* Pekao Financial Services Sp. z o.o.
* Pekao Fundusz Kapitałowy Sp. z o.o.
* Pekao Property SA
* FPB – Media Sp. z o.o.
Miscellaneous
Bank Pekao was the official bank and sponsor of the
UEFA EURO
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
.
Gallery
File:Pekao-flaga.jpg, Bank Pekao SA's flag with characteristic logo
File:Grzybowska-Warszawa-01-AB.jpg, Bank Pekao SA Head Office in Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
File:Komunalna Kasa Oszczędności 1 ID 617464.JPG, Bank Pekao Building in Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
File:PeKaO Czackiego 21-23 Warsaw 00.jpg, Bank Pekao in Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
File:Dom Tarnów, ul. Wałowa 10.JPG, Bank Pekao in Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...
File:Kalisz ul. Śródmiejska 29, bank.jpg, Bank Pekao in Kalisz
(The oldest city of Poland)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town
, image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
File:Bdg PeKaOOctownia 1 07-2013.jpg, Branch of Bank Pekao in Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
See also
*
Bon PeKaO
*
Ukrsotsbank
Ukrsotsbank (in 2013–2016 known as UniCredit Bank – Ukrsotsbank) was a Ukrainian bank. It was a subsidiary of Alfa Group via a Luxembourg incorporated company АВН Holdings. In October 2019 Ukrsotsbank was fully merged with Alfa-Bank (Uk ...
References
External links
Pekao Bank's history page
{{Authority control
Government-owned companies of Poland
Banks of Poland
Banks established in 1929
Companies based in Warsaw
Former UniCredit subsidiaries
1929 establishments in Poland
Companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
Polish brands
Companies set up in the Second Republic of Poland