Sampo Bank

The Post Office building in Helsinki, home of the Postal Bank from completion in 1938 to 1955

Sampo Bank (Finnish: Sampo Pankki) was a significant bank in Finland, originally the country's postal savings system founded in 1887. It was acquired in 2007 by Danske Bank, and eventually rebranded under the Danske brand in 2012. Its name adopted in 2001 referred to the Sampo, an iconic object of traditional Finnish mythology.

Overview

Head office of the Postisäästöpankki at Fabianinkatu 19 in Helsinki, designed by architect Antero Pernaja [fi] and completed in 1955

In 1887, Postisäästöpankki (lit. 'Postal Savings Bank') was established as the financial arm of the national Finnish post office, which accepted deposits from the public at post offices.

In 1970, it was renamed Postipankki (lit. 'Post Bank'). In 1988, it became a full-service bank, organized as a state-owned limited company.

In 1997, Postipankki absorbed Suomen Vientiluotto (lit. 'Finnish Export Credit'), and the resulting entity was rebranded Leonia Pankki. In 2000, Sampo Group acquired Leonia Pankki. Also in 2000, the group acquired Lietuvos Vystymo bankas (Lithuanian Development Bank, established in 1994) in Lithuania and Optiva Bank in Estonia.^[1] Optiva had been formed in 1998 by merger of Eesti Forekspank (est. 1992), Raepank (est. 1995) and Eesti Investeerimispank (EstIB).^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Sampo's banking operations were rebranded as Sampo Bank. That same year, Sampo acquired Mandatum Bank, created in 1998 by a merger of Interbank Osakepankki (established in 1988) and Mandatum & Co. (established in 1992).

In 2004, Sampo Bank acquired Maras banka, an Estonian bank established in 1996. In 2006, Sampo Bank acquired the Industry and Finance Bank (known as Profibank) in Russia.

In 2007, Sampo Group sold Sampo Bank to Danske Bank, while retaining its insurance business. At just over €4 billion, it was the largest cash acquisition to date in Finland.^[2] On 15 November 2012, Sampo Bank was renamed Danske Bank after banking operations were uniformed under one brand.^[3]

See also

• List of banks in Finland

References

1. "Aktsiate registreerimisprospekt AS Sampo Pank" [Share Registration Prospectus AS Sampo Pank] (PDF) (in Estonian). Nasdaq Baltic. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
2. "22 - 46/2006 PDF - Suomenkuvalehti.fi". suomenkuvalehti.fi. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
3. "From Postal Savings Bank to today". Danske Bank. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-12.