Kaupthing Bank is a North European bank with integrated financial services to companies, institutional investors and individuals. These services include corporate banking, investment banking, capital markets, asset management and comprehensive wealth management for private clients.

Kaupthing Bank was the merger of Kaupthing and Búnaðarbanki Islands founded in 2003 and is the largest bank in Iceland. The Bank operates in ten countries, including all the Nordic countries (Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Luxembourg, Switzerland, UK and the USA. The Bank is the eighth largest bank in the Nordic countries in terms of market capitalization and employs over 2,500 people and has 36 branches in Iceland.

In recent years, Kaupthing Bank is one of the fastest growing financial groups in Europe. The Bank’s expansion through organic growth and sound a number of strategic acquisitions have been achieved. The recent acquisitions are those of FIH Erhvervsbank in Denmark in 2004 and in 2005 the British bank Singer & Friedlander, now Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. The goal of this growth is to further enhance the Bank’s position, comprehensive services to its customer base in the UK, Scandinavia and elsewhere in northern Europe.

At 31 December 2006, the Bank had total assets of € 42 € 9 billion. In 2006 she was number 1006 on the Forbes Global 2000, representing an annual ranking of the top 2000 companies in the world by Forbes magazine. In the same year she finished number 177 (up 34 places from 2005) in the list of the world’s largest banks composed annually by the International Finance magazine “The Banker”.

In 2006, Kaupthing Bank reported a net profit of € 971,000,000, compared to € 659,000,000 in 2005. About 70% of operating income derived outside of Iceland (30% in Iceland, 34% in the UK, 26% in Scandinavia, 8% in Luxembourg and 2% in other countries).

The name

The bank is known as Kaupthing Bank outside of Iceland. In Iceland, the official name of Kaupthing banki hf. Previously, the official name of Kaupthing hf Búnaðarbanki. But the name was as the former name was changed to be too cumbersome for most people. From 2003 to 2006, the company’s name KB banki used for its retail operations in Iceland. In December 2006, however, the Bank began with the ancient name of Kaupthing for its network of high street bank. It was announced that the change is part of the Bank’s plan to operate under the same name was everywhere. [4]

History

Founded in 1930, Búnaðarbanki Islands was publicly owned from its inception and was privatized by the government in stages between 1998 and 2003. Kaupthing Bank was founded in 1982. Four years later, it was one of the founding members of the Iceland Stock Exchange. Half of the bank was sold, the Icelandic savings banks in 1986. The other half Búnaðarbanki Íslands was in 1990, sold, sold its shares in the savings banks in 1996. The savings banks began selling their shares to the public on the stock exchange in 2000.

Takeovers, mergers, subsidiaries

- 1982 Kaupthing hf. established in Iceland
- 1998 Kaupthing Luxembourg, SA opens
- 2000 Kaupthing Faroe opened opened, Kaupthing New York, Kaupthing Stockholm opened
- 2001 Copenhagen opened, Kaupthing Bank, Kaupthing Lausanne opened, Sofi in Finland purchased
- Acquired in 2002 Aragon in Sweden, acquired JP Nordiska Auðlind acquired in Sweden, Iceland
- 2003 Kaupthing with Búnaðarbanki Íslands merged to form Kaupthing Bank, acquired Tyren in Norway, Norvestia acquired in Finland, Kaupthing Limited opened in Britain
- 2004 A. Sundvall acquired in Norway, FIH acquired in Denmark
- 2005 Singer & Friedlander acquired in the UK
- 2006 Kaupthing Limited merges with Singer & Friedlander in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander in the UK
Form