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Handelsbanken
Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Nordic bank with international operations, providing a comprehensive range of financial services including corporate banking, investment banking, trading, and consumer banking such as loans, savings, and insurance. Headquartered in Sweden, Handelsbanken has a strong nationwide branch network and maintains a significant presence in other key markets including Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, where it operates with a focus on decentralised decision-making and long-term customer relationships.
Since the mid-1990s Handelsbanken has been expanding its universal banking operations into the other Nordic countries, and also in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The largest of these is in Britain with more than 150 branch offices. In October 2021 Handelsbanken announced that it would focus on its main markets Britain, Sweden and Norway and sell its operations in Finland and Denmark.
Stockholms Handelsbank ("Stockholm Commerce Bank") was created in early 1871 by several large corporations and leading Stockholm residents. Several of the initial owners had been active in Stockholms enskilda bank, the forerunner of SEB, which had opened in 1856 as the first private bank of Stockholm, and left that bank in April 1871 after a conflict. Handelsbanken began operating 1 July 1871 in rented space in the commercial and financial district in the central Old Town. The bank's first year was quite successful and soon, it was one of the city's financial institutions, functioning as a bank for businesses and also as an issuer of bonds. In 1873, the shares in Handelsbanken were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
In 1887, the bank entered into a crisis due to considerable losses, but was able to pull through. In 1893, the banking company of Louis Frænckel was fused with Stockholms Handelsbank, with Frænckel as the CEO. Under Frænckel's tenure, which lasted until his death in 1911, the bank was expanded with a notary department in 1896 and by a securities trading department in 1899. It also developed contacts with many foreign banks and financial institutions, which led to the buildup of trading activities in foreign currencies. The merge of the Julius Geber & Co banking company into Handelsbanken in 1906 contributed to its prominence in the Swedish foreign exchange market.
From 1914 to 1917, Stockholm's Handelsbank bought several smaller Swedish regional banks, and was in a short time transformed from a purely Stockholm-based bank to a bank with a large number of branch offices (38 in 1914 and 143 in 1917) throughout Sweden, in particular central and northern Sweden. In 1918, new branches were opened in Gothenburg and Malmö to get better national coverage, and in 1919, a bank in southern Sweden was bought, which brought the number of branch offices to over 250. After this expansion, the name was changed to Svenska Handelsbanken ("Swedish Commerce Bank") on 15 November 1919.
Following the post–World War I recession, Sweden experienced deflation, which caused considerable problems for the financial sector. In 1922, Handelsbanken failed to show a profit for the first time in its existence and in 1922–1923 it consolidated its activities, and made some write-downs, reductions in dividends and reserved funds to cover losses. The second half of the 1920s were much better times for the bank. In 1926, Mälarebanken was fused into Handelsbanken, bringing the number of branch offices to 270, of which 28 in Stockholm.
The worldwide depression following the Wall Street crash of 1929 led to reduced profits, and problems for borrowers resulted in the bank taking over stock in several industrial companies to secure their loans. Handelsbanken had however been cautious in their relation to Ivar Kreuger and his financial empire so it was not much affected by the Kreuger crash following Kreuger's death in 1932. Handelsbanken did however expand its ownership in Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) as a result of the crash.
In the winter of 1943/1944, Handelsbanken formed a holding company for the companies owned by the bank after the financial problems of the 1920s and 1930s, as part of a plan to phase out the bank's ownership of these companies, which included L. M. Ericsson. The company was named Industrivärden ("The Industry Host" or "Industry Values"), and after the bank's shareholders had been given the opportunity to acquire shares in the holding company, it was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1945.
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Handelsbanken
Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Nordic bank with international operations, providing a comprehensive range of financial services including corporate banking, investment banking, trading, and consumer banking such as loans, savings, and insurance. Headquartered in Sweden, Handelsbanken has a strong nationwide branch network and maintains a significant presence in other key markets including Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, where it operates with a focus on decentralised decision-making and long-term customer relationships.
Since the mid-1990s Handelsbanken has been expanding its universal banking operations into the other Nordic countries, and also in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The largest of these is in Britain with more than 150 branch offices. In October 2021 Handelsbanken announced that it would focus on its main markets Britain, Sweden and Norway and sell its operations in Finland and Denmark.
Stockholms Handelsbank ("Stockholm Commerce Bank") was created in early 1871 by several large corporations and leading Stockholm residents. Several of the initial owners had been active in Stockholms enskilda bank, the forerunner of SEB, which had opened in 1856 as the first private bank of Stockholm, and left that bank in April 1871 after a conflict. Handelsbanken began operating 1 July 1871 in rented space in the commercial and financial district in the central Old Town. The bank's first year was quite successful and soon, it was one of the city's financial institutions, functioning as a bank for businesses and also as an issuer of bonds. In 1873, the shares in Handelsbanken were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
In 1887, the bank entered into a crisis due to considerable losses, but was able to pull through. In 1893, the banking company of Louis Frænckel was fused with Stockholms Handelsbank, with Frænckel as the CEO. Under Frænckel's tenure, which lasted until his death in 1911, the bank was expanded with a notary department in 1896 and by a securities trading department in 1899. It also developed contacts with many foreign banks and financial institutions, which led to the buildup of trading activities in foreign currencies. The merge of the Julius Geber & Co banking company into Handelsbanken in 1906 contributed to its prominence in the Swedish foreign exchange market.
From 1914 to 1917, Stockholm's Handelsbank bought several smaller Swedish regional banks, and was in a short time transformed from a purely Stockholm-based bank to a bank with a large number of branch offices (38 in 1914 and 143 in 1917) throughout Sweden, in particular central and northern Sweden. In 1918, new branches were opened in Gothenburg and Malmö to get better national coverage, and in 1919, a bank in southern Sweden was bought, which brought the number of branch offices to over 250. After this expansion, the name was changed to Svenska Handelsbanken ("Swedish Commerce Bank") on 15 November 1919.
Following the post–World War I recession, Sweden experienced deflation, which caused considerable problems for the financial sector. In 1922, Handelsbanken failed to show a profit for the first time in its existence and in 1922–1923 it consolidated its activities, and made some write-downs, reductions in dividends and reserved funds to cover losses. The second half of the 1920s were much better times for the bank. In 1926, Mälarebanken was fused into Handelsbanken, bringing the number of branch offices to 270, of which 28 in Stockholm.
The worldwide depression following the Wall Street crash of 1929 led to reduced profits, and problems for borrowers resulted in the bank taking over stock in several industrial companies to secure their loans. Handelsbanken had however been cautious in their relation to Ivar Kreuger and his financial empire so it was not much affected by the Kreuger crash following Kreuger's death in 1932. Handelsbanken did however expand its ownership in Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) as a result of the crash.
In the winter of 1943/1944, Handelsbanken formed a holding company for the companies owned by the bank after the financial problems of the 1920s and 1930s, as part of a plan to phase out the bank's ownership of these companies, which included L. M. Ericsson. The company was named Industrivärden ("The Industry Host" or "Industry Values"), and after the bank's shareholders had been given the opportunity to acquire shares in the holding company, it was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1945.