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Big Four (banking)
The Big Four (or Big 4) is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance. Some countries include more or fewer institutions in such rankings, leading to other names such as Big Three, Big Five, or Big Six. International use Internationally, the term "Big Four Banks" has traditionally referred to the following central banks: Australia In Australia, the "big four banks" refers to the four largest banks that have historically dominated Australia's banking industry in terms of market share, revenue, and total assets. The "big four banks" of Australia are: A longstanding policy of the federal government in Australia has been to maintain this status quo, called the four pillars policy. The policy has been maintained through the Global Recession of 2008–09, as Westpac acquired St George Bank and the Commonwealth Bank acquired Bankwest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colloquial
Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation among persons in friendship, Family, familial, Intimate relationship, intimate, and other informal context (language use), contexts. Colloquialism is characterized by the usage of Literal and figurative language, figurative language, Contraction (grammar)#English, contractions, Filler (linguistics), filler words, Interjection, interjections, and other informalities such as slang. In contrast to wikt:formal, formal and Workplace communication, professional communications, colloquial speech does not adhere to grammar and syntax rules and thus may be considered inappropriate and impolite in situations and settings where etiquette is expected or required. It has a rapidly changing lexicon and can also be distinguished by its usage of formulations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bankwest
Bankwest is an Australian bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia in 1895 by the Government of Western Australia being renamed the Rural and Industries Bank in 1944, and Bankwest in 1994 before being privatised. After a period of being a listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, it was taken over by the Bank of Scotland, and since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank. Having expanded into the Eastern states in the 1980s, it closed the last of these branches in October 2022. The remaining 60 branches in Western Australia will be closed by the end of 2024 with 15 being converted to Commonwealth Bank branches. Bankwest will then become an online bank only. History Agricultural Bank era In 1895, the Government of Western Australia established the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia as a rural lender to support the state's farming industries. Despite its name, it was not a bank, as i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BNP Paribas Fortis
BNP Paribas Fortis is an international bank based in Belgium and a subsidiary of French banking group BNP Paribas. The bank was created in May 2009 after BNP Paribas acquired 75% of the Belgian Fortis Bank from the Federal Participation and Investment Company. It was formerly, together with Fortis Bank Nederland, the banking arm of the financial institution Fortis. After the ultimately unsuccessful ABN-AMRO takeover, the subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent 2008 financial crisis led to the sale of the Dutch and Luxembourg parts of the banking branch to the Dutch and Luxembourg governments. Fortis Bank itself was first partly bought by the Belgian government (for €4.7 billion), then fully purchased by the government and sold to BNP Paribas. Activities BNP Paribas Fortis offers the Belgian market a comprehensive range of financial services a range of client types, including individual customers, self-employed people and those in the liberal professions, small and medium- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfius
Belfius Bank and Insurance, known as Dexia Bank Belgium until 1 March 2012, is a Belgian state-owned bank that emerged from the dismantling of the Dexia group which had been purchased by the Belgian government on 10 October 2011 for 4 billion euros. Belfius has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank. History Origins of Belfius Belgium: Gemeentekrediet van België / Crédit Communal de Belgique The Crédit Communal de Belgique () was founded in 1860, specifically for the financing of local authority investments. Municipalities seeking to borrow are obliged to purchase shares equal in value to at least 5% of the borrowings. In 1947, the bank begins to develop a network of retail branches that allows funds to be drawn from the general public through savings accounts. From 1960 on, the branches are run by independent agents, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalities, 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than to the south. Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne (river), Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations, politicians, Diplomacy, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the ''de facto' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Community Of Belgium
In Belgium, the French Community (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because its name in the Belgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to the French language and not to France. As such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as "the French-speaking Community of Belgium" for clarity, in analogy to the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration. It and its predecessor entity have used the flag of Wallonia since 1975. History Belgium was transformed from the unitary into a federal state. The first state reform of 1970 introduced the "cultural communities" including the French Cultural Community (''Communauté culturelle française''). This was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KBC Bank
KBC Group N.V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank (KB), the cooperative , ABB Insurance, and Fidelitas Insurance. The acronym KBC stands for KredietBank and CERA. KBC Group is one of Belgium's major companies and the second largest bancassurer in the country. As of late 2020, it was the 15th largest bank in Europe by market capitalisation and a major financial player in Central and Eastern Europe, employing some 41,000 staff (of which more than half in Central and Eastern Europe) and serving 12 million customers worldwide (some 7 to 8 million in Central and Eastern Europe). KBC is a Forbes Global 2000 company. The group is controlled by a group of core shareholders, and has a free float of approximately 60%. The core shareholders include KBC Ancora, a listed company controlled by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.8 million; its population density of ranks List of countries and dependencies by population density, 22nd in the world and Area and population of European countries, sixth in Europe. The capital and Metropolitan areas in Belgium, largest metropolitan region is City of Brussels, Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex Federation, federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The country is divided into three highly autonomous Communities, regions and language areas o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Österreichische Postsparkasse
Österreichische Postsparkasse (, , abbr. P.S.K.) was a postal savings systems, postal savings bank in Austria. It was owned by the Österreichische Post, Austrian Post Office and thus by the government. It merged on 1 October 2005 with the BAWAG to form BAWAG P.S.K. History During the Austro-Hungarian Empire Österreichische Postsparkasse was founded by law in 1882. On 28 May, the parliamentary bill "...on the introduction of postal savings banks in kingdoms and countries represented by the Imperial Assembly" was passed in the Imperial Council (Austria), Imperial Council (''Reichsrat''). The government bill was drawn up by Georg Coch, the founder and first director of the bank. The first headquarters of the "k.k. Postsparcassen-Amt" (Imperial-Royal Postal Savings Office) was opened on 12 January 1883 in the former Dominican Order, Dominican Monastery building on Wollzeile street in the first Viennese district Innere Stadt. About 4,000 post office branches located throughou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BAWAG P
BAWAG (Abbreviation of , , ) was a bank in Austria founded in 1922. On October 1, 2005, it merged with the separate ''Österreichische Postsparkasse'' (P.S.K.) to form the "Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse AG", shortened as BAWAG P.S.K. In October 2017, BAWAG Group AG, the holding company of BAWAG P.S.K., became a listed company on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Largest shareholders are GoldenTree Asset Management (21.8%) and T. Rowe Price (5.6%). BAWAG has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank. History Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft BAWAG was founded in 1922 by the Austrian Chancellor Dr. Karl Renner as the ''Arbeiterbank'' (Austrian Worker's Bank), not so much to extend favourable terms of credit to ordinary people, but to spare them to resort to more capitalist institutions (cit. Renner). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raiffeisen Bankengruppe (Austria)
The Raiffeisen Banking Group (, RBG) is a group of cooperative banks in Austria. The Austrian Raiffeisen banks are not consolidated under a single parent entity but are financially linked through a common institutional protection scheme and deposit guarantee scheme. The group's international operations, by contrast, are consolidated under Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). History The movement to create rural cooperative banks initiated in Germany by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen spread to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1886, two years before Raiffeisen's death, with the establishment of the country's first ''Raiffeisenkasse'' at Mühldorf, Lower Austria, Mühldorf near Spitz, Austria, Spitz in Lower Austria. The movement first national representative body was founded in 1898 under the name ''Allgemeiner Verband landwirtschaftlicher Genossenschaften in Österreich'' (). As Austria became a separate republic in 1918, more than 2000 local Raiffeisen banks were present on the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UniCredit Bank Austria
UniCredit Bank Austria AG, branded and widely referred to as Bank Austria, is an Austrian bank, 99,9965% owned by Milan-based pan-European banking group UniCredit. Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by merger of Vienna's Länderbank and Zentralsparkasse, acquired Creditanstalt-Bankverein in 1997, and merged with it to form Bank Austria-Creditanstalt (BA-CA) in 2002. Its name reverted to Bank Austria in 2008, as UniCredit, the bank's owner since 2005, phased out the history-laden Creditanstalt brand. History Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by the merger of the troubled Länderbank and Vienna's Zentralsparkasse, in practice a takeover of the former by the latter led by its general director ; the merged entity became Austria's largest bank. In 1996, the Austrian government announced the privatization of Creditanstalt-Bankverein, in which it held a majority stake. In January 1997, Bank Austria acquired the stake for about 1.25 billion euros. In turn, Bank Austria sold a majority sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
