Merita Bank

1997 Merita Bank merges with the Swedish Nordbanken and forms MeritaNordbanken. The crisis of the 1990s Photo: Q Studio Oy The beginning of the 1990s is marked by a wide scale change in the Finnish banking and insurance sector resulting from a severe economic decline. In 1992 Suomen Työväen Säästöpankki (the Finnish labour movement's saving bank) that had been transformed from a savings bank to a commercial bank, joins up with Kansallis-Osake-Pankki. In 1993 Kansallis-Osake-Pankki together Union Bank of Finland and two other banking groups acquired the only two-year old Suomen Säästöpankki (The Finnish Savings Bank), and divide the operations between themselves. 1975 Photo: Q Studio Oy Suomen Yhdyspankki, formerly Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki, 1919 - 1975, adopts in 1975 the English name Union Bank of Finland, which was used internationally. As early as the 1970s the bank was a pioneer in the development of electronic services.		1995 A merger of Kansallis-Osake-Pankki and Unitas Ltd, the parent company of Union Bank of Finland, formed Merita Bank. 1986 Helsingin Osakepankki, Finland's third largest bank, merges with Union Bank of Finland. 1862 Suomen Yhdyspankki is formed.

Finnish Merita Bank merged with the Swedish Nordbanken in 1997 and formed MeritaNordbanken.

At the time of the merger Merita Bank was the leading financial services group in Finland. With total assets of FIM 280bn the bank was one of the largest players in the Nordic region. Its earnings amounted to some FIM 9bn and it had almost 15,000 employees. Merita Bank had strong international operations, and was dominant in Finland's large-company sector. Merita Bank was one of the pioneers in electronic services in Finland and continued to occupy a leading position in this area.

The bank traces its history back to 1862, when Finland's largest commercial bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki, was formed. Merita Bank's history is characterised by many mergers in which small, independent banks boosted their competitive strength by merging. Merita Bank was formed in 1995 when Kansallis-Osake-Pankki merged with Unitas Ltd, the parent company of Union Bank of Finland, and the operations of the two banks were integrated.