Bank of Åland Plc ( sv, Ålandsbanken) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

commercial bank and banking group with over 700 employees and operations in

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Sweden. The bank was founded in 1919 and was listed on the stock exchange in 1942. Its president and CEO is Peter Wiklöf.

History

Bank of Åland was founded in 1919 and has been listed on the

Helsinki Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange ( fi, Helsingin Pörssi, sv, Helsingforsbörsen), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ...

since 1942. In the 1990s Bank of Åland expanded its operations to the Finnish mainland and in March 2009 the bank established itself in Sweden through the acquisition of the

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic ''Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB''.

The acquisition of Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB

In October 2008 Kaupthing hf in Iceland was nationalized and the shares in the subsidiary Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB were taken by the Swedish National Bank as a pledge. In March 2009 Bank of Åland Plc acquired most of Kaupthing's Swedish activities. Bank of Åland paid SEK 388 million for the companies Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB, ''Kaupthing Fonder AB'' and ''Alpha Management Company S.A'', with a total balance sheet of SEK 5 billion and an equity of SEK 832 million. The acquisition included operations in

private banking Private banking is banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks and financial institutions primarily serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs)—defined as those with very high levels of income or sizable assets. A bank that ...

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high ...

and institutional

equity trading A stock trader or equity trader or share trader, also called a stock investor, is a person or company involved in trading equity securities and attempting to profit from the purchase and sale of those securities. Stock traders may be an invest ...

. Most of the lending to companies was not included in the deal, but was transferred to its parent company Kaupthing hf. The liquidity support Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB received from the Bank of Sweden in autumn 2008 was repaid in full. Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB changed its name to ''Ålandsbanken Sverige AB'' and was happy.

Activity

Bank of Åland has 30 branch offices across Finland and Sweden and the number of retail and private banking customers is about 90,000. In Finland, Bank of Åland is a full service bank focused on

and premium banking. The Swedish branch, Ålandsbanken Sverige, has private banking and asset management as its main business areas. It was converted from a subsidiary into a branch on 1 December 2011. Bank of Åland has 19 branch offices on the Åland Islands. The branch offices in the Finnish mainland are located in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Pargas Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the cent ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

. In Sweden, the branch offices are situated in Stockholm, Gothenburg and

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

. The Bank of Åland group includes wholly owned ''Crosskey Banking Solutions Ab Ltd'', which is a Nordic provider of banking solutions with 150 employees and offices in Mariehamn, Stockholm,

and

. Other subsidiaries are ''Ålandsbanken Fonder AB'', ''Ålandsbanken Fondbolag Ab'', ''Ålandsbanken Asset Management Ab'', ''Ålandsbanken Equities Ab'', ''Alpha Management Company S.A.'' and ''Ab Compass Card Ltd Oy''. The group headquarters are located in Mariehamn on the Åland Islands. The Swedish head office occupies six floors of the classic property

Stureplan Stureplan is a public square in central Stockholm, between Norrmalm and Östermalm. The square connects the major streets Kungsgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan and Sturegatan. The buildings around the square house offices of banks and other financia ...

19, built in 1893–1895, in central Stockholm.

Ratios

* Revenue: EUR 74 million (2008) * Net operating profit: EUR 20,0 million (2008) * Total assets: EUR 2 770 million (2008) * Risk-based capital ratio: 12,8% (2008) * Return on equity: 10,7% (2008) * Employees: 700+ (2009) * Offices: 30

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of Aland Banks of Finland Companies of Åland Banks established in 1919 Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki 1919 establishments in Finland