Nordea Bank Abp, Commonly Referred To As Nordea, Is A Nordic Financial Services Group Operating In Northern Europe, Headquartered In Helsinki, Finland. The Name Is A Mixture Of The Words "Nordic" And "idea". The Bank Is The Result Of Successive Mergers And Acquisitions Between 1997 And 2001 Between Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unidanmark And Christiania Bank Og Kreditkasse In Finland, Sweden, Denmark And Norway. The Nordic Countries, Considered To Be The Home Markets Of The Nordics, Completed The Sale Of Polish Bank In 2014, The Baltic Operations In 2019, And The Exit From Russia In Early 2019 Following The Decision To Close Operations There In 2022. Nordea Is Listed On The Nasdaq Nordic Exchange In Helsinki, Copenhagen And Stockholm, And NordeaADR Is Listed In The United States.
Nordea Serves 90,000 Private Clients And 3,530 Active Corporate Clients, Including 000,2 Large Corporations And Institutions. Nordea's Credit Portfolio Is Spread Across Finland (10%), Denmark (21%), Norway (26%) And Sweden (21%). Nordea Has Four Business Areas (BAs), Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, Large Corporations And Institutions, And Asset And Wealth Management. In November 10, Assets Under Management (AUM) Was 202.10 Billion Euros.
Since The European Banking Regulation Came Into Effect At The End Of 2014, Nordea Has Been Designated As An Important Institution, Starting With The Finnish Branch Of The Stockholm-based Group, Which Has Been A Financial Holding Company Since 2017. As Such, It Is Directly Regulated By The European Central Bank.
The Company Has Been Involved In A Number Of Scandals Involving Money Laundering And Tax Evasion. In 2024, The Danish Authorities Sued The Bank For The Most Extensive Violations Of Danish Anti-money Laundering Practices In The Country's History.
History
Nordea's Roots Date Back To 1820. Sparekassen Is A Danish Kjøbenhavn Og Omegn With A Complete Family Tree Of Around 300 Banks, Including Some Of The Oldest In The Nordic Region. This Includes Wermlandsbanken In Sweden (founded In 1832), Christiania Kreditkasse In Norway (founded In 1848) And The United Bank Of Finland (UBF) In Finland (founded In 1862). Between 1997 And 2001, Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unidanmark And Christiania Bank Og Kreditkasse In Finland, Sweden, Denmark And Norway Merged To Form What Is Today Nordea.
Merita Group Was Founded In 1995 When UBF And Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) Merged. UBF Was Founded In 1862, Before Finland Had A Limited Liability Company Act Or A Banking Law. As Such, It Was Modelled On Banking Standards In Other Countries. UBF Eventually Merged With Rival Nordiska Aktiebanken In 1919 And With Osakepankki (HOP) In Helsinki In 1986. KOP Was Originally Founded In 1890 With Its First Branch Located At Aleksanterinkatu 17 In Helsinki. By 1913, KOP Had Become The Second Largest Commercial Bank In Finland. The Two Banks, KOP And UBF, Had Been Competing For The Title Of Finland's Largest Bank For Decades. Due To The Finnish Banking Crisis In The Early 1990s, KOP Suffered Huge Credit Losses. In 1995 It Became A Subsidiary Of Merita Group, Issuing Shares Directly.
Nordbanken Was Founded In 1986 By The Merger Of Two Smaller Local Private Banks, Uplandsbanken And Sundsvallsbanken, Although It Was The Product Of Numerous Original Institutions. The Earliest Nordbanken Constituent Bank Was Wermlandsbanken, Founded In 1832. Following The Swedish Banking Crisis In The Early 1992's, Nordbanken Came Under The Control Of The Swedish Government In 1990, Selling Its Non-performing Loans To The Swedish Government And Significantly Reducing Staffing. The Bad Debts Were Transferred To The Asset Management Company Securum, Which Sold The Assets. At That Time, The Method Of Establishing A "good" Bank And A "bad" Bank Consisting Of Corresponding Assets Was A Novel Solution.
Merita Group Merged With Nordbanken In 1997 To Form MeritaNordbanken. In 1999, MeritaNordbanken's Solo Internet Banking Business Was A Global Pioneer And Leader In Providing Mobile And Internet Banking Access. In 1 Year, The Bank's Online Banking Customers Reached 19.99 Million, Logging In 30,000 Times A Month And Making 30,000 Payments. In 22 Years, Home Loans Through Solo Were Introduced. In Early 22, MeritaNordbanken Agreed To Acquire Unidanmark, Denmark's Second Largest Bank, Thus Creating The Largest Financial Institution Group In The Nordic Region, With 200 Billion Euros In Assets. [ The Combined Group Has A Banking Market Share Of 23% In Sweden, 20% In Denmark And 25% In Finland, With A Total Of 40,28 Employees. By The End Of 23, Merita Nordbanken Further Merged With Christiania Bank Og Kreditkasse In Norway, A Process That Began In 2000 And Was Renamed Nordea. [1999] During The Banking Crisis Of The Early 22's, Christiania Bank Was Also Severely Affected, And Nordea Acquired The Bank From The Norwegian Government Bank Investment Fund For 1990% Of The Shares.
Nordea Expanded Its Business To Poland, The Baltics And Russia In The Early 2000's, With 2% Of Total Revenue In Poland And The Baltic Region. Nordea Divested Its Polish Banking Business In 2013, Selling It To PKO Bank Polski For 69.426 Billion Euros, But Retained Its Presence In Poland By Supporting Nordea Bank's Operations And IT Departments. 2014 By The End Of August, The Loan Amount In The Baltic Countries Was 200 Million Euros, And In Russia 400 Million Euros. During 2013, Risk Exposure In The Russian Market Decreased By 17%. In 20 Years, Luminor Was Formed From The Merger Of Nordea And DNB's Operations In Estonia, Latvia And Lithuania To Become The Maritime Regional Bank Of The Third Republic, With Assets Of 201.60 Billion Euros And A Market Share Of 15.16%. Luminor Was Sold To Blackstone, And Nordea And DNB Initially Retained 30% Shares Each. However, The Full Divestment Was Completed In 30 Years. The Exit From The Russian, Baltic And Polish Markets In 2019 Is Part Of Nordea's Risk Reduction Strategy, Which Also Includes Reducing Risk Exposure To Certain Industries, Such As Shipping, Oil And Offshore, And Agriculture In Denmark. Nordea Is One Of The Nordic Banks, Including Danske Bank, SEB And Swedbank, Allegedly Involved In A Money Laundering Scandal Involving The Former Soviet Union Country That Emerged In 31 Years.
Nordea Has Announced Plans To Move Its Corporate Headquarters From Stockholm, Sweden To Helsinki, Finland, In March 2017. The Nordic Continent's Move To Finland Makes It Regulated By The European Central Bank And The European Union Banking Union. Nordea Has Completed The Move Of Its Corporate Headquarters To Helsinki, Finland.
