SNS Bank

SNS Bank N.V.

File:Snsbank.png Zo kan het ook
Type	subsidiary
Industry	Banking
Founded	1817
Headquarters	Utrecht, Netherlands
Products	Banking Insurance
Net income	€116 million (2009)
Total assets	€80 billion
Number of employees	3000
Parent	SNS REAAL
Website	www.snsbank.nl

SNS Bank is a Dutch retail bank offering financial products to both companies and individuals. It became a subsidiary of SNS Reaal since 1997 when the holding company bought insurance company Reaal. The bank and its parent was rescued by the Dutch government in 2013 and has been state owned since then.

History

The history of the bank goes back to 1817 when the first Netherlands savings bank (Dutch: spaarbank) was established as Nutsspaarbank. The saving bank movement was part of a campaign to encourage individual citizens to save for their future. The Savings banks used these funds to provide mortgages to individuals who would otherwise not have the ability to buy their own house, much like the building society movement in the UK. During the 19th and 20th century a number of spaarbanks were established throughout the Netherlands.

The second half of the 20th century saw a big consolidation of spaarbanks resulting in two major groups, one was SBS Bank and other was VSB (Verenigde Spaarbank) (English: United Savings Bank) which became part of Fortis (finance). SNS Bank was formed out of a merger of several savings banks in the Netherlands. SNS is an abbreviation of Samenwerkende Nederlandse Spaarbanken (“Co-operating Dutch Savings banks”).

The parent holding company listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam on May 18, 2006 and the following year it bought all shares in major Dutch insurance provider Reaal.

On December 4, 2006, it was announced that SNS Bank would purchase Regio Bank from ING Bank in a €50M deal.

On February 1, 2013 the bank and its parent was nationalized by the Dutch government to rescue it from failure.

External links

• SNS Bank website