OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2008. SAMPO Bank, managed by Danske Bank, one of the largest financial services groups in Northern Europe, has a new name in Lithuania - Danske bankas, reported the press-centre of Danske bankas.

On the 31st of May, 2008 SAMPO Bank closed the last page of its extremely successful seven year history of activity. From now on it welcomes all of its customers as Danske bankas.

The Lithuanian branch of Danske Bank A/S took over all the rights and obligations of SAMPO Bank.

The names of the subsidiaries of SAMPO Bank have also changed as from 1 of June. Sampo lizingas became Danske lizingas (Danske leasing) and "Sampo pensiju fondu valdymas" (Sampo pension fund management) is now known as "Danske Capital investiciju valdymas" (Danske Capital investment management).

From the 1st of June every customer of SAMPO Bank automatically became the customer of Danske bankas. The contractual terms between the bank and the customer remain unchanged, as well as the bank accounts numbers, bank card PINs and e-banking access passwords. Other obligations of the bank towards its customers also remain intact.

Mr. Mads Jacobsen, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baltic countries’ bank subdivision of Danske Bank Group and a member of the Danske Bank Group Executive Committee, says that the entry of Danske Bank into Lithuania is a task-oriented part of the general strategy of the Danske Bank Group, to develop and strengthen retail and business banking in a rapidly growing market.

After acquiring the banks of the SAMPO Group in Finland and the Baltic countries, geographically, the Danske Bank group has encompassed the entire region of Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea.

According to Mr. Jacobsen, "upkeeping the vision of a "One platform – exceptional brands", we adjust all our best services to the needs of the customers of a particular country".

Mr. Gintautas Galvanauskas, the Managing Director of Danske Bank A/S Lithuania branch believes that after seven years of successful operation in Lithuania, SAMPO Bank is entering a new stage of quality.

"The new name of the bank embodies new opportunities for our customers" - says Mr. Galvanauskas, and accordingly the customers will be able to make use of Danske Bank’s long standing experience and receive individual quality financial solutions, services and instruments to meet their specific needs.

Business customers in any of the 15 countries where the Danske Bank Group is present, will be able to receive any banking service, easily and plainly, on equal grounds and be able to monitor and manage their finances conveniently, by means of the e-baking systems. It will be possible to open accounts in foreign countries without leaving Lithuania.

All customers may already avail some of the useful services provided by the Group. For instance, international and local money transfers between the accounts of a particular company in any bank of the Danske Bank Group are effected free of charge on the same day.

The Customers’ financial safety will be ensured by the fact that their deposits will be insured for an amount twice as high – 138 thousand LTL as from June. Furthermore, contrary to the situation in the past, from now the entire deposit amount will receive a one hundred percent insurance coverage. The new changes in deposit insurance shall apply to monetary deposits in any currency. Up until now, the guaranteed safety concerned only deposits in US dollars, euros and the currencies of EU member states.

The financial opportunities of the branch of Danske Bank operating in Lithuania have also increased significantly. Currently there are no projects in Lithuania that Danske bankas wouldn’t be able to finance.

About Danske Bank Group
The Danske Bank Group with its headquarters in Copenhagen, is the largest bank in Denmark and the second largest bank in the Northern European financial market in terms of assets.

Its share capital amounts to 936 million euros (3,232 billion litas). In terms of first level capital, Danske Bank is 25th among the countries of Western Europe and 42nd among the world’s banking groups.

The Danske Bank Group operates in 15 countries, has 842 bank units, employing almost 25 thousand employees.

Danske Bank was established in 1871 as Den Danske Landmandsbank. After many mergers it became the largest bank in Denmark and developed its activity in Sweden and Norway.

In 2007 Danske Bank acquired SAMPO Banks in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the SAMPO Group based in Finland. Danske Bank paid 4.05 billion euros (13.984 billion litas) for the SAMPO group. The transaction was finalised on 1 February 2007, and as from July 2007 Danske Bank directly manages 100% of the share capital of SAMPO Bank.

More information at www.danskebank.com.