Arion Banki hf., formerly Nýja Kaupþing hf. (), is an
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
with roots tracing back to 1930. The bank operates in the Greater Reykjavík area as well as in the largest urban areas around the country. In 2016 the bank had the third largest market share of the current accounts in Iceland (30%), behind
Landsbankinn
Landsbankinn (, ), originally NBI hf., is an Icelandic bank headquartered in Reykjavík. It was established in 2008 by the Icelandic government out of the domestic operations of its predecessor Landsbanki which failed during the 2008–2011 Icela ...
(36.1%) and
Íslandsbanki
Íslandsbanki (, ) is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1875, formerly being the domestic part of Glitnir (bank), Glitnir banki hf., but on 15 October 2008 being split from the bankrupt Glitnir and reestablished into a new independent ...
(31%). The Bank has 13 branches all over the country and over 100,000 customers. In recent years, the bank has faced criticism for shutting down several of its branches in smaller towns throughout Iceland.
History
Nýja Kaupþing was established as a state-owned
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
on the ruins of the Icelandic-based operations of the former
Kaupthing Bank
Kaupthing Bank (, ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were ...
and placed in control of the old bank's domestic assets and liabilities. On 20 November 2009, New Kaupthing changed its name to Arion Banki.
On behalf of its creditors Kaupthing, through its subsidiary Kaupskil, took ownership of Arion Bank on 8 January 2010. Kaupskil holds 87% of common equity and the Icelandic State Financial Investments (ISFI) 13%. Kaupskil appoints five out of six board members of Arion Bank, the government appoints the sixth. Kaupskil has a call option to buy the government's stake at a later point.
Following a change in ownership in 2010 a new board of directors as well as a new CEO, Höskuldur H. Ólafsson, and management team were appointed. A new strategic plan was also introduced.
In February 2017, the government announced its intention to sell its minority stake through an
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
.
See also
*
2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis
The Icelandic financial crisis was a major financial crisis, economic and political event in Iceland between 2008 and 2010. It involved the default (finance), default of all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks in late 2 ...
*
List of banks in Iceland
The following is a list of banks in Iceland.
Contemporary banks
Central
* Central Bank of Iceland
Commercial
* Arion Bank (formerly known as ''New Kaupthing'')
* Íslandsbanki (formerly known as ''New Glitnir'')
* Landsbankinn (formerly ...
References
External links
www.arionbanki.is
www.arionbanki.is
{{Authority control
Banks of Iceland
Banks established in 2008
Icelandic brands
Companies in the OMX Iceland 10
Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm