Sydbank A/S is one of Denmark's largest full service banks headquartered in

Aabenraa Aabenraa (; , ; Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It was the seat of Sønder ...

. Sydbank was founded in 1970 with the merger of four local banks based in

Southern Jutland Southern Jutland ( da, Sønderjylland; German: Südjütland) is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called da, Nørr ...

: Den Nordslesvigske Folkebank (Aabenraa); Graasten Bank (

Gråsten Gråsten (; german: Gravenstein) is a town with a population of 4,274 (1 January 2022)Sønderborg (; german: Sonderburg ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,766 (1 January 2022),Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

). It has since then grown considerably through mergers and acquisitions, one of the latest being DiskontoBanken (DiBa Bank) of

Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the four ...

, which was delisted on the Copenhagen stock exchange as of 15 January 2014.

History

1970s

Through the early 1970s, Sydbank had only 50 branches — all in south Jutland — until 1976 when it opened its first branch across the

Kongeå The Kongeå (in German ''Königs Au'') is a watercourse in Southern Jutland in Jutland, Denmark. It rises southeast of Vejen and Vamdrup and after about it flows through a sluice to tidal mudflats and sandbanks north of Ribe, and eventually into ...

River in

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...

1980s

In 1980, Sydbank grew greatly. In 1983, Sydbank opened an office at

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv ( lit. "The King's New Square") is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection with ...

in Copenhagen and merged with the Aarhus Bank. In 1984, it engaged in another merger with Fuen Bank and Co-established bank with a branch in Flensburg and subsidiary SBK-Finance. In 1985, came a branch in Hamburg. In 1987, the company created Sydbank Investment branch Sydinvest and purchased parts of Copenhagen-based 6th July Bank, which had gone into receivership in March of that year. In 1988, it purchased Sydbank Community Bank branches in Copenhagen and the following year, bought Sydbank DMK-Holding. The bank ended the decade with a market share of just two percent, 70 branches and 1,400 employees.

1990s

Sydbank merged in 1990 with Sparekassen South Jutland. It acquired Varde Bank in early 1994, including 30 West Jutland departments. In May 1994, it bought Sydbank Active Bank and 40 East Jutland offices from Topdanmark.

2000s

Since 2000, Sydbank has offices in almost all parts of Denmark. Sydbank acquired Odense Bank Egnsbank Funen in 2002 and began to open branches in central Jutland and Sealand. It opened the subsidiary Sydbank (Schweiz) AG in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 2002. In 2007, it sold Sydbank DMK-Holding to Ebh Bank and opened offices in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. In 2008, the company purchased Trelleborg Bank, headquartered in

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Kalundborg and 14 km ...

2010s

Sydbank is now one of Denmark's largest full-service banks based in Southern Jutland and headquartered in Aabenraa. The Bank has a market share in the sector around seven percent, approximately 2,600 employees and 115 branches - including three in Germany. The Executive Director since 2010 is Karen Frøsig. On September 17, 2019, half of Sydbank's board members (excl. employee-elected members) resigned in protest over Sydbank's strategy and governance. Several media report that the resignations follow failed attempts to merge Sydbank to improve profitability and falling stock.

2020s

In October 2020, the bank acquired Alm. Brand Bank from

Alm. Brand Alm. Brand (until 2002 Alm. Brand af 1792) is a Danish financial services group operating within the markets for non-life, life and pension insurance. History The company was founded in 1792 and its activities were originally limited to mutual ...

for €250 million.

SydbankFonden

Sydbank founded SydbankFonden in 2002 which annually awards millions of dollars to charitable, cultural and popular applications. Among others, SydbankFonden funded the bronze sculpture "Myth" in 2008 which was awarded to Sønderborg - inspired by King Christian II, who, according to the legend, created a groove in a stone board during captivity in Sønderborg-castle Castle.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Banks of Denmark Companies based in Aabenraa Municipality Danish companies established in 1970