Danske Bank International S.A. history

Most immediately, Denmark had experienced a period of stagnant growth since about 1986.

By 1990 these institutions had begun to compete directly with the banks.

1991: Den Danske Bank establishes a life insurance and pensions subsidiary and a mortgage credit subsidiary.

In 1992, Baltica Holdings, which controlled the country's largest insurance group, faced a severe liquidity crisis resulting from its attempts to join the trend among Danish financial institutions to diversify beyond their core businesses.

Den Danske planned to dispose of the company, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that Baltica's life insurance subsidiary, Danica, could not pay a dividend for 25 years.

By January 1995, Den Danske captured 15 percent of Danish gross new mortgage lending.

In 1997, Den Danske made its first major cross-border purchase.

By 1998, BG Bank remained a distant third in both size and profitability.

By 1999, Den Danske had digested these acquisitions.

2000: Den Danske becomes Danske Bank Aktieselskab and merges with RealDanmark.

2006: Danske buys Sampo Bank, Finland’s third-largest bank, which has businesses in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

June 8, 2007: The Russian Central Bank writes to the Danish financial regulator, voicing concerns that clients of newly-acquired Sampo Bank “permanently participate in financial transactions of doubtful origin” estimated at “billions of rubles monthly”, the Bruun & Hjejle report says.

2008: Danske abandons a costly plan to migrate its Baltic banking activities onto the group IT platform.

2013: A correspondent bank stops clearing dollar transactions out of Danske’s Estonian branch because of money laundering concerns, Bruun & Hjejle report says.

In draft conclusions sent by email on Feb 5, 2014, it says: “we cannot identify actual source of funds or beneficial owners”, the law firm’s report said.

March 2016: Denmark’s financial regulator says it has reported Danske to the police for breaching anti money laundering rules and censures it for not having identified and reduced “significant money laundering risks” in its Estonian branch.

Danske Bank launches an investigation into its Estonian branch in 2017 following suspicions that systematic money laundering may have occurred.

In 2019, Danske Bank leaves Estonia following an order from the authorities and at the same time decides to start winding down its activities in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.