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ISTORIJSKE ODLIKE

BANKARSTVA U SKANDINAVIJI

Rezime

Istorijske odlike bankarstva u skandinavskim zemljama predstavljene su na nivou pojedinačnih država, da bi se zatim u zaključnom poglavlju sumirale fundamentalne zajedničke karakteristike bankarstva u Skandinaviji. U smislu evolutivnih karakteristika, skandinavsko bankarstvo ima dva lica. Na jednoj strani ovog diptiha su Švedska i Danska, dok su na drugoj tri preostale zemlje, tj. Norveška, Finska i Island. Guste mreže različitih tipova bankarskih institucija kreirane su još krajem 19. veka (akcionarske kompanije, štedionice, kreditne zadruge), kako bi se obezbedilo prikupljanje štednje građana i plasiranje tih sredstava u investicije. Iz početnog stanja velike fragmentiranosti razvila se tipična bipolarna struktura kroz proces konsolidacije i koncentracije bankarskog sektora, u kome je većinski udeo bankarskog tržišta pod kontrolom samo nekoliko bankarskih kompanija, koje posluju na celokupnoj teritoriji dotičnih zemalja. Raznolikost bankarskih i ostalih finansijskih institucija stvorila je konkurentno okruženje, predupređujući pojavu apsolutne dominacije na tržištu.

Ključne reči: bankarstvo, istorija, Skandinavija, ekonomska istorija

JEL klasifikacija: G21, G28, N23, N24

UDK 336.71(48) ; 330.34(48)

Prof dr Žarko LazarevićInštitut za novejšo zgodovino,

Ljubljana, Slovenijazarko.lazarevic@inz.si

Rad primljen: 17.12.2012.

Odobren za štampu: 19.12.2012.

originalni naučni rad

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Summary

Historical features of banking in Scandinavian countries are presented at the level of individual states and then in the concluding section, the most fundamental common features of Scandinavian banking are summarised. In terms of its evolutionary characteristics, Scandinavian banking shows two images. On the one side of this diptych are Sweden and Denmark and the three remaining countries, i.e., Norway, Finland and Iceland are on the other. Dense networks of various types of banking institutions were created as early as late 1800s (stock companies, savings banks, credit cooperatives), assuring the catchment of people’s savings and their allocation to investments. From the initial state of great fragmentation, a typical bipolar structure emerged in the process of consolidation and concentration of the banking sector, in which the predominant share of banking market was controlled by only a few banking companies, operating in the entire territories of these states. A diversity of banking and other financial institutions created a competitive environment, precluding the emergence of absolute dominance on the market.

Key words: Banking, history, Scandinavia, economic history

JEL Classification: G21, G28, N23, N24

HISTORICAL FEATURES OF BANKING IN SCANDINAVIA

UDC 336.71(48) ; 330.34(48)

Prof Žarko Lazarević, PhDInstitute of Contemporry History, Ljubljana, Sloveniazarko.lazarevic@inz.si

Paper received: 17.12.2012

Approved for publishing: 19.12.2012

original scientific paper

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Kao što je to često slučaj sa geografskim pojmovima, Danska, Island, Norveška, Švedska i Finska pripadaju

skandinavskim zemljama. Njihove zajedničke odlike su geografska lokacija i činjenica da pripadaju najrazvijenijem delu sveta. Međutim, te se zemlje međusobno razlikuju u pogledu karakteristika i istorijskog razvoja. Sama činjenica da su Danska i Švedska bile dominantne sile, dok su ostale tri države bile njima potčinjene u jednom ili drugom svojstvu, tokom različitih istorijskih perioda, stavlja individualne zemlje u različite istorijske pozicije. Takođe, postoje razlike u dinamici ekonomskog i društvenog razvoja, pošto su Švedska i Danska prednjačile u tom smislu. Švedska i Danska prošle su kroz period industrijalizacije u poslednjoj četvrtini 19. veka. Ostale tri države su tek započinjale svoj put ka promeni tradicionalnih ekonomskih struktura u to vreme, a to su činile različitom brzinom. Razlike u njihovim fazama ekonomskog i društvenog razvoja izgubile su donekle svoj značaj tek u drugoj polovini 20. veka. Ali su, s druge strane, sve ove države imale zajedničko verovanje u brži ekonomski razvoj. Izvoz je bio podstrek za industrijalizaciju, kao sveobuhvatni proces društvene i ekonomske transformacije. U Danskoj, ova uloga bila je poverena izvozno-orijentisanoj poljoprivredi, dok su se ove druge zemlje više oslanjale na prerađivačku industriju svojih prirodnih resursa, naročito drvene građe. Island, pak, oslanjao se na svoju industriju ribarstva. Dugo vremena čitav region je bio veliki uvoznik kapitala, a zanimljivo je napomenuti da su se strana sredstva koristila za izgradnju saobraćajne infrastrukture, uglavnom pod rukovodstvom države. Međutim, veliki deo industrijalizacije finansiran je iz sredstava domaće štednje koje su banke ulagale u investicije. Karakteristika Skandinavije je i visok stepen društvene solidarnosti, čiji su temelji bili postavljeni tokom Velike ekonomske krize 30-tih godina. Švedska je najizrazitiji primer u tom pogledu. Pod snažnim utiskom široko rasprostranjenih radničkih protesta, Socijal-Demokrate na vlasti, ali i opoziciona Seljačka stranka, postigle su kompromis o ekonomskoj i socijalnoj politici. Švedska vlada je dala nacrt sveobuhvatne šeme socijalnih reformi, koja je bila definisana pojmom "folkhemmet", što

znači "narodna kuća". Čitava ova šema bila je zasnovana na pretpostavci da društvo nije ništa drugo nego velika "kuća", te da je, stoga, obavezna da pomaže svim svojim članovima, uvek kada su u nevolji, bilo da se tu radi o nezaposlenosti, bolesti, starosti ili nekoj drugoj nesposobnosti za rad. Usled izbijanja Drugog svetskog rata, implementacija ovih reformi bila je odložena za posleratni period, kada je politika, sada poznata pod nazivom "država blagostanja", bila marljivo razrađena u duhu predratnih planova. Druge skandinavske zemlje krenule su sličnim putem. Bankarstvo je takođe doživelo razvoj unutar ovog društvenog i ekonomskog konteksta. U ovom članku, prikazane su istorijske karakteristike bankarstva u skandinavskim zemljama, prvo na nivou pojedinačnih zemalja. U završnom delu ovog rada, sumiraju se najvažnije zajedničke odlike skandinavskog bankarstva.

Švedska

Švedski bankarski sistem pratio je glavni put ekonomskog razvoja. On je delio sa njim i uspone i padove. Švedska je jedna od zemalja koje su bile svedoci veoma ranog početka institucionalizovanog bankarstva. Švedska centralna banka je, navodno, najstarija takva banka u svetu. Sverige Riksbank bila je osnovana 1668. godine, nakon famozne likvidacije prve švedske emisione banke, Stockholms Banco, osnovane 1656. godine. Ta banka je imala namenu da reguliše državne finansijske potrebe i tek je postepeno poprimala svojstva centralne banke. Njen prvi subsidijar bio je osnovan 1824. godine, a obim njenih direktnih aktivnosti kreditiranja stanovništva ili ekonomskih subjekata bio je mali. Ali je ona igrala veliku ulogu u finansiranju raznih privatnih banaka, koje su, potom, odobravale kredite pojedincima ili poslovnim kompanijama. Međutim, kao i drugde u svetu, finansiranje ekonomskih inicijativa bilo je još uvek prevashodno u domenu raznih trgovaca, koji su postepeno napuštali trgovinu robom u korist financijskog biznisa. Sveriges Riksbank je počela da poprima svojstva centralne banke negde oko sredine 19. veka. U to vreme, pojavio se veliki broj komercijalnih banaka, koje su imale emisiona prava, te je bilo propisano da svaka takva

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As is usually the case with geographical definitions, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland are

classified as Scandinavian countries. Common to all of them are their geographical location and the fact that they belong to the most developed part of the world. However, these countries differ from one another as regards their characteristics and historical development. The very fact that Denmark and Sweden used to be the dominant powers, whereas the other three states were subjected to them in some form or another in different historical periods, puts the individual countries into different historical positions. Also, differences are present in the dynamics of economic and social development, since Sweden and Denmark led the way in this respect. Both Sweden and Denmark underwent industrialisation in the last quarter of the 19th century. The remaining three states had only begun the path of changing their traditional economic structures at that time and they were doing so at differing paces. The differences in their stages of economic and social development became less salient only in the second half of the 20th century. On the other hand, though, these states shared a common thrust of a faster economic development. Export was the incentive for industrialisation as a process of a large-scale social and economic transformation. In Denmark, this role was assigned to the export-oriented agriculture, whereas other countries relied more on the processing of natural resources, especially wood. Iceland, in turn, relied on fisheries. For a long time, the entire region used to be a large importer of capital and, interestingly, foreign resources were used to fund the construction of traffic infrastructure, which was mainly led by state. However, a large part of industrialisation was funded by domestic savings that banks diverted to investments. Also characteristic of Scandinavia is a high degree of social solidarity, which had its foundations laid during the great economic crisis of the 1930s. Sweden is the most characteristic case in this regard. Impressed by widespread workers’ unrest, the ruling Social Democratic and the opposition Peasant Party reached a compromise on economic and social policy. Swedish government formulated a comprehensive social reform scheme, which

was defined by the notion “folkhemmet”, meaning “people’s home”. The entire scheme was based on a presumption that the society is nothing else but a large “home” and that it is therefore also obliged to help each and every of its members whenever they are in distress, be it due to unemployment, illness, old age or some other inability to work. Because of the onset of the Second World War, implementation of the reforms was postponed to the post-war era, when policies, known under the name of “welfare state”, were meticulously elaborated in the spirit of pre-war plans. Other Scandinavian states took on similar paths. Banking underwent development within this social and economic context as well. In this article, historical features of banking in Scandinavian countries are first presented at the level of individual states. In the concluding section, the most fundamental common features of Scandinavian banking are then summarised.

Sweden

Swedish banking system followed the general path of economic development. It shared its successes and failures. Sweden is among the countries that witnessed a very early start of institutionalised banking. Swedish central bank is allegedly the oldest in the world. Sveriges Riksbank was established in 1668, after the infamous liquidation of the first Swedish issuing bank, Stockholms Banco, established in 1656. The bank was intended for regulating state’s financial needs and only gradually acquired the characteristics of a central bank. Its first subsidiary opened only in 1824 and the scope of its direct lending to citizens or economic subjects was low. But it played a greater role in the financing of various private banks, which in turn issued loans to individuals or business companies. However, like elsewhere, financing of economic initiatives was still predominantly the domain of various merchants who were gradually leaving commodity trade in favour of financial business. Sveriges Riksbank began to resemble a central bank somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, a greater number of commercial banks appeared, which had the issuing rights, therefore it was stipulated that any such bank had to secure

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banka mora, svojim depozitima kod Riksbank, da osigura banknote koje je emitovala (tj. štampala). Riksbank je postala prava centralna banka, sa punim ovlašćenjima, upravo pred kraj 19. veka. Poseban zakon usvojen 1897. godine je davao Riksbank ekskluzivno pravo na emitovanje novca i povećao njena kontrolna ovlašćenja.

Početak modernog bankarstva nije nastao toliko rano koliko je to bio slučaj sa pretečom centralne banke. Rani početak doseže do sredine 19. veka. Bilo je to vreme kada je započela ubrzana industrijalizacija i kada je povećana tražnja za novcem. U isto vreme, razrađena je povoljna normativna zakonska regulativa, koja je omogućavala relativno brzo osnivanje bankarskih kompanija. Tako je osnivanje Götheborgs Privat Bank, 1847. godine, poznatije pod imenom Gotha Bank, bilo vredno pažnje. Pored toga, potrebno je skrenuti pažnju na čuvenu Stockholms Enskilda Bank 1856. godine. Ova banka je počela svoje poslovanje u Stokholmu, gde prethodno nije postojala ni jedna druga banka u privatnom vlasništu. Otud njeno ime "enskilda", što znači privatna banka, banka u vlasništvu porodice Wallenberg. Kasnije, ova će banka postati dobar primer za mnoge druge švedske banke, zahvaljujući svom pažljivom i propisnom upravljanju. Osam godina kasnije, ovoj banci će se pridružiti jedna nova, koja je imala drugačiji profil. Na osnovu inicijative stranih investitora, osnovana je Skandinaviska Kreditaktienbolaget u Geterborgu, koja će slediti poslovne šeme banaka zvanih "crédit mobilier", banka sa specifičnom orijentacijom na primanje štednje stanovništva. Skandinaviska je bila prva banka akcionarsko društvo, što je bilo oličeno i u njenom imenu. Slavni amblem, "detelina sa tri lista" švedskog bankarstva, doživeo je svoje zaokruženje 1871. godine, kada je otvorena Stockholms Handelsbank u Stokholmu. Pravi izazov za švedsko bankarstvo nastupio je 1877/8. godine, kada je mnogo privatnih banaka bilo suočeno sa nepremostivim nedaćama. U to vreme, gore navedene banke bile su sposobne da značajno konsoliduju svoju lidersku poziciju i preuzmu vodeću ulogu u finansiranju glavnih izvoznih sektora švedske privrede.

Početna era švedskog savremenog bankarstva, tj. 1860-tih i 1870-tih godina, imala je veliku važnost u istorijskoj perspektivi.

Tokom tog perioda, uspostavljena je osnovna bankarska mreža, koja je pokrivala 80 različitih banaka, koje su poslovale u više od 160 gradova i varoši. Tako je bio stvoren fundamentalni sistem za sakupljanje štednje i usmeravanje tih sredstava u investicije u industriju. Bilo je to veoma važno za intenzivan tok industrijalizacije, naročito u decenijama pre početka 20. veka. Istovremeno, tokom tog perioda postignut je veoma intenzivan razvoj švedskog bankarstva, naročito onog komercijalnog karaktera.

Počevši od 1890-tih godina i nadalje, u švedskoj industriji usledila je izrazita strukturna promena. Akcionarska društva postala su predominantna, postepeno zamenjujući porodične kompanije, jer su bile u stanju da akumuliraju mnogo više kapitala koji je bio neophodan za tehnološko usavršavanje i modernizaciju proizvodnje. Banke su aktivno učestvovale u ovom procesu. S jedne strane, one su omogućile ubrzani rast industrije zahvaljujući kreditima, a s druge, i same banke su aktivno ulazile u industrijska akcionarska društva, što je bila značajna inovacija u razvoju bankarstva i industrije. To je bio uzročno-posledični proces, sa brzim industrijskim rastom koji je stimulisao širenje bankarstva, u smislu samih brojeva, jer je broj banaka porastao na 136 do Prvog svetskog rata, i u smislu proširenja mreže subsidijara, pošto su izvori finansiranja morali da se povećavaju da bi zadovoljili tražnju. Banke su to

Stokholm, Švedska Stockholm, Sweden

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banknotes they issued (i.e., printed) by a deposit at the Riksbank. Riksbank became a central bank proper with full powers just prior to the end of the 19th century. In 1897, a special law was passed, granting the Riksbank exclusive right to issue money and strongly increasing its powers of control.

However, the beginnings of modern banking were not as early as was the case with the precursor to the central bank. They reach into the mid-19th century. This was the time when accelerated industrialisation began and demand for money increased. At the same time, a favourable normative framework was created, enabling a relatively quick establishment of banking companies. Thus, the founding of Götheborgs Privat Bank in 1847, known under the name of Gotha Bank is noteworthy. In addition, it is necessary to call attention to the famous Stockholms Enskilda Bank of 1856. This Bank began operating in Stockholm, where no privately owned bank had preceded it. Hence its name, “enskilda”, which meant a private bank, a bank owned by the Wallenberg family. Later on, this bank would become a good example for many Swedish banks due to its thorough and attentive management. Eight years later, this bank was joined by a new one, which had a different profile. On the basis of foreign investors’ initiative, Skandinaviska Kreditaktienbolaget was founded in Goteborg,

which pursued a business pattern of a bank type called “crédit mobilier”, a bank with a specific orientation towards accepting population’s savings. The Skandinaviska was also the first banking stock company, which was also expressed by its name. The great “three-leaf clover” of Swedish banking saw its completion in 1871 when Stockholms Handelsbank opened in Stockholm. A true ordeal for Swedish banking came in 1877/8, when many private banks were faced with insurmountable troubles. At that time, the aforementioned banks were able to significantly consolidate their leading positions and assumed a leading role in the financing of major export sectors of Swedish economy.

The initial era of modern Swedish banking, i.e., the 1860s and 1870s, had a significant importance in historical perspective. During this period, the basic banking network was laid, encompassing around 80 different banks, which covered over 160 cities and towns. A fundamental system of acquisition of savings and their allocation to investments in industry was thus created. This was very important for the intensive perpetuation of industrialisation, especially in the decades prior to the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, this period saw a very intense growth of Swedish banking, especially that of commercial character.

From 1890s onwards, a noticeable structural shift occurred in the Swedish industry. Stock companies started to predominate, gradually replacing family companies, since they were able to accumulate much more capital that was required for technological upgrades and modernisation of production. Banks actively participated in this process. On the one side, they enabled the industry to boom due to loans and on the other, the banks themselves entered actively into industrial stock companies, which was an important innovation in the development of banking and industry. This was a cause-and-effect process, with rapid industrial growth stimulating the expansion of banking, both in terms of numbers, as the number of banks increased to 136 until World War I, as well as in terms of propagation of subsidiary network, as sources of funds had to be increased in order to meet the demand. Banks were doing this via an intensive expansion of their subsidiary networks in the countryside, thus

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postizale kroz intenzivnu ekspanziju svoje mreže subsidijara u provincijama, time umnogome prevazilazeći lokalne štedionice i nacionalnu poštansku štedionicu. Drugi izvor finansiranja bio je strani kapital. Na taj način, Švedska je bila neto uvoznik kapitala tokom skoro čitave polovine veka, bilo putem uzimanja kredita kod stranih banaka, ili kroz emitovanje obveznica na stranim finansijskim tržištima.

Ove razvoje postepeno je pratila zakonska regulativa. Usled nekoliko značajnih bankarskih stečajeva, uslovi za osnivanje banaka bili su pooštreni tokom godina pre izbijanja Prvog svetskog rata i kontrola bankarskog poslovanja bila je povećana. Komitet za kontrolu bankarskog poslovanja, kome su banke bile obavezne da podnose svoje godišnje izveštaje o poslovnoj politici i uspehu, osnovan je 1907. godine i imao je pravo da obavlja reviziju bankarskih operacija i preduzima mere pre izbijanja nekih problematičnih situacija u poslovanju. Nova bankarska regulativa je legalizovala postojeće, aktuelne uslove, bankama je dato pravo na vlasništvo nad drugim bankama, ili poslovnim kompanijama. Bankama je bilo dozvoljeno da osnivaju holding kompanije koje bi upravljale njihovim investicijama u drugim sektorima privrede.

Sa transformisanjem u industrijsko društvo pre Prvog svetskog rata, Švedska je dobila i potpuno razvijen bankarski sistem, koji je onda unapređivan i interno konsolidovan tokom narednih decenija, kako bi zadovoljio zahtevne uslove neophodne u godinama posle Velikog rata. Prvi udar koji je doživela Švedska bila je visoka inflacija, na koju ranije nije bila navikla. Likvidnost kompanija je postajala problematična u tom periodu. Mnoge su se našle suočene sa teškim problemima i odlazile pod stečaj. U tim slučajevima, banke su morale da otpisuju dugove takvim kompanijama. U većini slučajeva, banke su transformisale svoja potraživanja u akcijski kapital i omogućavale uvećanje kapitala tih kompanija, kako bi im omogućile novi početak. Međutim, četrnaest banaka otišlo u bankrot i postale su žrtve nelikvidnosti u industrijskom sektoru. Naime, bilo je toliko mnogo nenaplativih investicija da je bilo nemoguće sve ih nadoknaditi, čak i sa odustajanjem od učešća u kapitalu, potez koji su mnoge banke bile primorane da učine.

Mnoge manje banke, koje su naročito bile na velikom udaru, preuzele su veće banke, naročito one u liderskoj poziciji. Država je osnovala 1933. godine specijalni fond, AB Kreditkassan, da bi se obezbedilo da proces spasavanja banaka u poteškoćama ne bude potpuno spontan. Zadatak ovog fonda, koji je prevashodno finansirala vlada, bio je da pruži pomoć izloženim bankama, kako bi se očuvala sigurnost depozita stanovništva.

Sledeće poteškoće za švedsko bankarstvo stiglo je sa velikom ekonomskom depresijom. I ovoga puta se stanje likvidnosti umnogome pogoršalo, ali posledice nisu bile toliko teške koliko su to bile početkom 20-tih godina. Međutim, ovoga puta postojala je značajna razlika. Početkom 20-tih godina, velike banke nisu trpele zbog nelikvidnosti, ali ovoga puta ni one nisu bile pošteđene. Jedna od najvećih, najuticajnijih i najvažnijih banaka, Skandinaviska, bila je pod udarom ove situacije. Banka je imala tesne veze sa Ivanom Kreugerom, čovekom koji je uspeo da stvori poslovnu imperiju bukvalno ni iz čega. Međutim, njegov uspeh bio je zasnovan na pozajmljenim sredstvima, što naravno nije bilo vidljivo spolja. Kada je postalo očigledno da nova sredstva nisu raspoloživa, što je značilo da dospele obaveze ne mogu da se izmire, Ivan Kreuger je izvršio samoubistvo 1932. godine. Bankrotstvo njegovih kompanija ugrozilo je Skandinavisku. Ispostavilo se da je banka odobrila zapanjujućih 40% svih svojih kredita upravo Kreugeru. Banka je bila suviše velika da bi država rizikovala da ona propadne, jer bi posledice takvog slučaja bile veoma složene i dalekosežne. Menadžment banke bio je smenjen, a toksičke investicije do značajne mere je nadoknadila švedska vlada, uz darežljivu pomoć drugih banaka. Istovremeno, vlada je ohrabrivala koncentraciju bankarskog poslovanja, koja je smanjila broj nezavisnih banaka. U nominalnom smislu, švedsko bankarstvo vratilo se na stanje u kome je bilo pola veka ranije. Banke sa nacionalnom pokrivenošću bile su ojačane, dok se većina lokalnih banaka, a takođe i neke od regionalnih banaka, pridružila onim moćnijim i priznatijim bankama.

Veliki problemi sa kojima su se banke sučeljavale poboljšale su položaj lokalnih štedionica, jer je stanovništvno, čije se nepoverenje u bankarska akcionarska društva sve više

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grossly outpacing local savings banks and the national postal savings bank. The other source was foreign capital. In this manner, Sweden was a net importer of capital for over half a century, either through hiring loans at foreign banks or by issuing bonds on foreign financial markets.

These developments were slowly followed by legislation. Because of several resounding bank failures, conditions for establishing banks were tightened in the years prior to the First World War and control of banks’ business was increased. In 1907, the Banks’ Business Control Committee was established, to which banks were obliged to submit annual reports on their business policies and success, while the committee had the right to revise banks’ business operations and undertake measures prior to the onset of business troubles. New banking regulations also legalised the actual conditions, banks were granted the right of ownership of other banks or business companies. They were also allowed to establish holding companies to manage their investments in other sectors of the economy.

Just as Sweden had transformed into an industrial society prior to the World War I, it also acquired a completely developed banking system, which was then upgraded and internally consolidated over the following decades so as to meet the demanding conditions in the aftermath of the Great War. The first thing to hit Sweden was high inflation, which it had previously not been accustomed to. Liquidity of companies also became problematic in this period. Many were faced with grave problems and went bankrupt. In such cases, banks had to abate these companies’ debts. In most cases, banks transformed their claims into equity and provided for capital increase of such companies, thus enabling them a new beginning. However, fourteen banks fell victim to illiquidity of the industrial sector and underwent bankruptcy. Namely, there were so many irretrievable investments that it was impossible to compensate for them even with the waiver of joint stock, a move many banks were forced to take. Many smaller banks, which were hit especially hard, were taken over by larger banks, especially the leading ones. In order to assure that the process of rescuing compromised banks would not be entirely

spontaneous, the state established a special fund in 1933, the AB Kreditkassan. The task of this fund, which was predominantly granted by the government, was to assist the exposed banks so as to keep citizen’s deposits safe.

Next ordeal for the Swedish banking arrived with the Great Economic Depression. This time, liquidity once again deteriorated a lot, yet the consequences were not as severe as in the early 1920s. However, an important difference occurred this time. In the early 1920s, large banks had not been suffering due to illiquidity, but this time they were not spared. One of the largest, most influential and most important banks, the Skandinaviska, was affected by this situation. The bank had tight connections to Ivar Kreuger, a person who had managed to create a large business empire literally from scratch. However, his success was based on borrowed funds, which of course was not evident on the outside. When it became obvious that new funds were unavailable, which also meant that past liabilities could not be discharged, Ivar Kreuger committed suicide in 1932. Bankruptcies of his companies consequently compromised the Skandinaviska. It turned out that the bank had issued a stunning 40 % of all its loans to Kreuger. The bank was too large for the state to risk its demise and consequences of such an event would be complex and vast. Its management was replaced and toxic investments were to a significant extent compensated for by the Swedish government, with generous assistance offered by other banks. At the same time, the government encouraged the concentration of banking business, which reduced the number of independents banks. In nominal terms, Swedish banking reverted to the state it had been in half a century before. Nationwide banks were reinforced, whereas most local banks and also some regional banks joined the more powerful and reputable ones.

On the other hand, big troubles banks were experiencing improved the position of local savings banks, since the population, whose distrust in banking stock companies increased, diverted more of its savings to these savings banks. However, insurance companies did not remain idle, either. They offered the population a plethora of arrangements and, in so doing, collected its savings as well. This

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povećavalo, prebacivalo sve više svoje štednje u te štedionice. Međutim, ni osiguravajuća društva nisu sedela skrštenih ruku. Ona su nudila stanovništvu obilje aranžmana i na taj način sakupila i njihovu štednju. To je samo povećalo konkurenciju između raznih finansijskih institucija, što nije moglo da prođe bez posledica. Do sredine 30-tih godina, udeo komercijalnih banaka u učešću depozita stanovništva pao je sa dve trećine na 40%, dok se u oblasti kreditiranja još više smanjio. Država je intervenisala u korist komercijalnog bankarstva. Da bi povratila njegovu dobru reputaciju, država je usvojila novi zakon o bankarstvu, zabranjujući komercijalnim bankama da poseduju druge kompanije. Veliki vlasnički udeo banaka u industrijskim kompanijama bio je identifikovan kao izvor problema. Prema tome, bankama je naređeno da prodaju svoje investicije što je pre moguće. Sve do kraja Drugog svetskog rata, velike banke su stimulisale stvaranje specijalnih holding kompanija, ako ih već nisu imale, te su prenosile svoje industrijske investicije u njih, u zamenu za "plaćanje". Tipičan primer bila je Enskilda banka, u vlasništvu porodice Wallenberg.

Period posle Drugog svetskog rata doneo je visok stepen regulative za banke, zajedno sa izuzetnim rastom privrede i povezanim razvojem bankarstva. Pored klasičnih poslova koje su banke bile obavezne da obavljaju, vlada im je poverila pružanje aktivne podrške svojoj ekonomskoj politici. One su zakonski bile obavezne da primaju proporcionalni deo državnih obveznica. Kada su zakonski regulisana sveobuhvatna socijalna prava, na tržištu kredita došlo je do rasta raznih državnih fondova. U tom pogledu, uloga penzionog fonda bila je naročito važna, jer je on povremeno kupovao i do 40% svih raspoloživih obveznica na finansijskom tržištu, bukvalno izmeštajući banke iz tog posla zahvaljujući svojim "ogromnim" sredstvima koja je posedovao.

Posleratni period je doveo do izuzetnog širenja mreže bankarskih subsidijara. Naime, sve do 60-tih godina, kompanije su finansirale proširenje svoje proizvodnje sopstvenim sredstvima. Tek kasnije su počele da se oslanjaju na bankarski potencijal. Tokom vremena, rastuća primanja stanovništva i s time povezana štednja, još jednom su usmerili banke na poslovanje sa stanovništvom. Međutim, to

nije išlo na štetu poslovnog sektora. Putem racionalnog proširenja mreže subsidijara i velikih investicija u informacionu tehnologiju, sa ciljem da se prevaziđe povećanje troškova usled uvođenja velikog broja malih računa, banke su uspele da povrate svoju prošlu slavu. Još jednom su uspele da sakupe preko 40% svih depozita u zemlji. Međutim, priča je bila manje uspešna na području kreditiranja. Veliki delovi ovog domena tržišta pokrile su građevinske kompanije, koje su finansirale stambenu izgradnju, naročito porodične kuće. Baš kao što su to nekada učinile štedionice, tako su i banke sada osnovale specijalne finansijske insitucije za ovaj oblik kreditiranja i povratile kontrolu barem nad jednim delom tržišta.

Tokom čitavog posleratnog perioda, nastavljao se proces koncentracije bankarskog poslovanja. Broj komercijalnih banaka postepeno se smanjivao, a u 1990. godini njihov broj bio je sveden na samo 12. U smislu bilansnog stanja, tri banke su bile izuzetno istaknute: stara i uvažena Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (stvorena integracijom obeju banaka 1972. godine) i Handelsbanken, kojima se takođe pridružila Nordbanken. Ova poslednja je osnovana 1974. godine kada su se integrisale Postbanken i Sveriges Kreditbanken. Tokom skoro dve decenije, ona je bila poznata pod imenom PKbanken (Post och Kreditbanken). Kada su joj se pridružilo nekoliko regionalnih banaka početkom 1990-tih godina, ona je preimenovana u Nordbanken.

Poslednja decenija 20. veka bila je karakteristična po krizi koja je pratila deregulaciju i internacionalizaciju bankarstva. Međutim, ova dva procesa nisu bili uzrok te krize; uzroci se mogu naći u lošim investicijama i opštoj ekonomskoj recesiji u Švedskoj. Istovremeno, konkurencija i na stranom i na domaćem tržištu povećala se usled liberalizacije finansijskih tokova. Pored stranih banaka, druge domaće institucije ulazile su na bankarstvo tržište. To je naročito bio slučaj sa osiguravajućim društvima, čime je bio iniciran proces postepene konvergencije bankarstva i osiguranja.

Tokom ovog perioda, dve velike i čuvene banke počele su da se suočavaju sa problemima. Da bi se sprečilo da veliki broj investitora bude oštećen, država je odlučila da interveniše. Sa integracijom između Nordbanken i Gotha Bank,

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only increased competition between different financial institutions and could not remain without consequences. Until the mid 1930s, the share of commercial banks in citizens’ deposits fell from two thirds to 40 %, whereas in the area of loans, it decreased even further. The state intervened in favour of commercial banking. In order to reinstate their good reputation, the state adopted a new banking law, prohibiting commercial banks from owning other companies. Large ownership shares of banks in industrial companies were identified as the source of trouble. Therefore, banks were ordered to sell their investments as quickly as possible. Until the end of the Second World War, large banks stimulated the creation of special holding companies, if they had not had them before, and transferred their industrial investments to them in exchange for “payment”. A typical example was the Enskilda bank, owned by the Wallenberg family.

The period after World War II brought about a high degree of regulation of banking, in addition to exceptional growth of the economy and associated development of banking. Apart from classical tasks banks were obliged to perform, the government entrusted them with active support of its economic policies. They were obliged by the law to accept proportional shares of government bonds. With the enactment of comprehensive social rights, the credit market saw growing increase in the significance of various state funds. In this regard, the role of pension fund was especially important, as it occasionally purchased up to 40 % of bonds available on the financial market, virtually displacing banks due to “immense” resources it possessed.

The post-war period also entailed an exceptional expansion of banks’ subsidiary network. Namely, up to the 1960s, companies funded their production expansion with their own resources. Only later did they begin to rely on the banking potential. In time, growing incomes of people and the associated savings once again directed banks to conducting business with citizens. This, however, was not to the detriment of the business sector. Through rational enlargement of subsidiary network and large investments into information technology intended to overcome increased costs due

to introducing very large numbers of small accounts, banks managed to regain their former glory. Once again, they succeeded to collect over 40 % of all deposits in the state. However, the story was less successful on the credit side. Large portions of this part of the market were occupied by different construction companies, which were financing residential development, especially family housing. Just as the savings banks had done before, banks established special financial institutions for this type of credits and regained control at least over a part of the market.

Throughout the entire post-war period, intensive process of concentration of banking business took place. The number of commercial banks gradually decreased and in 1990, their number was reduced to 12. In terms of balance sheet figures, three were especially prominent: the old and reputable Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (created by the merger of both banks in1972) and Handelsbanken, also joined by the Nordbanken. The latter came into existence in 1974 when Postbanken and Sveriges Kreditbanken merged. For almost two decades, it had been known under the name PKbanken (Post och Kreditbanken). When several regional banks joined it in early 1990s, it was renamed Nordbanken.

The last decade of the 20th century was characterised by a crisis, which accompanied the deregulation and internationalisation of banking. However, these two processes were not its causes; they were to be found in bad investments and general economic recession in Sweden. At the same time, foreign and domestic market competition increased due to the liberalisation of financial flows. Apart from foreign banks, other domestic institutions entered the banking market. This was especially the case with insurance companies and the process of gradual convergence of banking and insurance business was thus initiated.

During this time, two large and renowned banks were facing problems. In order to prevent large numbers of investors from suffering damages, the state intervened. With the merger of Nordbanken and Gotha Bank, the renewed Nordbanken was created, which soon internationalised its business operations. Subsequently, it merged with the largest

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stvorena je čuvena Nordbanken, koja je ubrzo potom internacionalizovala svoje poslovanje. Shodno tome, ona se integrisala sa najvećom finskom bankom, Merita pankki, što je dovelo do stvaranja Merita Nordbanken. Međutim, integracije se nisu tu zaustavile. Merita Nordbanken integrisala se 2001. godine sa danskom Unibank i norveškom Christiania Kreditkasse, stvorivši Nordea bank, supraregionalnu skandinavsku, nordijsku i baltičku banku. Upravo proces rasta od Nordbanken do Nordea bank pruža nam živopisnu ilustraciju procesa konsolidacije i internacionalizacije švedskog bankarstva od ranih 1990-tih godina (Sandberg, 1978; Olsson, 1994).

Danska

Pre ere organizovanog bankarstva, Danska je bila pod dominacijom pojedinačnih trgovaca, koji su se bavili bankarskim poslovima, što je slično situaciji u drugim državama toga vremena. Razvoj bankarstva u Danskoj bio je u skladu sa opštim ekonomskim razvojem, naročito sa industrijalizacijom. Ipak je Danska jedna od država u kojoj se institucionalizovano bankarstvo pojavilo relativno rano. Tako je prva danska banka, Kurantbank, osnovana 1736. godine. Kako je obično bio slučaj sa početnim periodom postojanja banaka, i ova banka je poslovala u svojoj emisionoj i kreditnoj funkciji. Izvori kreditiranja nalazili su se u glavnici i depozitima stanovništva i u izdavanju čekova. Specie Bank, koja je obavljala i emisionu i kreditnu funkciju, osnovana je 1791. godine. Obe banke su uspešno poslovale sve do Napoleonovih ratova, kada je Danska upala u situaciju ekonomskog haosa, te je monetarni sistem morao da se iz početka potpuno formira. Otud osnivanje Nationalbanken i Kjobenhavn godine 1818., a kasnije to će postati centralna banka, koja u istom tom svojstvu posluje do danas, pod imenom Danmarks Nationalbank. Važan prelomni trenutak bila je 1936. godina kada je transformisana iz privatne u javnu instituciju (u državnom vlasništvu). Monetarni uslovi su se postepeno stabilizovali, banka je osnivala svoje subsidijare i polagano se udaljavala od direktnog kreditiranja. Kako je evoluirao, bankarski sistem je obezbeđivao privredi neophodna finansijska sredstva kroz

druge banke. Na taj način, ona je postepeno postajala centralna banka u pravom smislu reči.

Važna godina bila je i 1810. jer je tada osnovana prva regionalna štedionica u Danskoj. To je bila neka vrsta ranog vesnika onoga što će uslediti, a to je bilo osnivanje ne manje od 168 banaka do 1870. godine. One su predstavljale moć koja se morala uzeti u obzir, pošto su sakupljale četiri puta više depozita od bankarskih akcionarskih društava. Prvo bankarsko akcionarsko društvo (Fyens Diskonto-Kasse) osnovali su danski privrednici 1846. godine, u Odenseu. Nakon nekoliko "mirnih" godina, tokom 1850-tih godina nastao je veliki broj drugih takvih kompanija. Među njima, Privatbanken i Kjobenhavn, osnovana 1857. godine, naročito zaslužuje pažnju jer je igrala važnu ulogu u istoriji bankarstva Danske, sa aspekta stimulacije preduzetništva. Ova banka je rasla preuzimanjem drugih, manjih banaka. Danas je poznata pod ponešto drugačijim imenom i jedna je od najvažnijih banaka u zemlji.

Tokom 1870-tih godina, nastajale su nove banke, neke od njih sa jasno definisanim profilima da popune izvesne praznine na tržištu. Tako je Den Danske Landmandsbank (1871) bila, navodno, prvenstveno namenjena poslovanju u provinciji, tj. pružanju usluga kreditiranja poljprivrede. Trebalo je da ona emituje obveznice da bi dobila pristup sredstvima neophodnim za odobravanje kredita. Međutim, Nationalbank je intervenisala, te zabranila emitovanje obveznica, na osnovu argumenata da bi takve operacije narušile njen zakonski odobreni monopol na emisiona prava. Landmandsbank je tada reorganizovana u dve jedinice, gde je jedna bila posvećena isključivo komercijalnom bankarstvu, dok je druga bila namenjena za hipotekarno bankarstvo. Godine 1873. Kjobenhavns Handelsbank je počela sa radom. Kao što je to bio slučaj i sa drugim bankama koje su nosile slično ime, i ovoj banci je prvenstveno bilo povereno menično poslovanje.

Tri gore pomenute velike banke omogućile su, ili stimulisale, osnivanje mnogih poslovnih kompanija tokom 1890-tih godina, u vreme ubrzane industrijalizacije. One su ušle u mnoge takve kompanije putem kupovine njihovih akcija, a takođe su uzimale učešća u njihovom menadžmentu. U tome su se takmičile sa brojnim sličnim bankama akcionarskim društvima (140), kao i sa velikim brojem štedionica (510). Više

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Finnish bank, the Merita pankki, which led to the Merita Nordbanken. However, mergers did not stop here. In 2001, Merita Nordbanken merged with the Danish Unibank and Norwegian Christiania Kreditkasse, creating the Nordea bank, a supra-regional Scandinavian, Nordic and Baltic bank. It is exactly the process of growth from Nordbanken to the Nordea bank that offers a picturesque illustration of the process of consolidation and internationalisation of Swedish banking since the early 1990s (Sandberg, 1978; Olsson, 1994)

Denmark

Before the era of organised banking, Denmark was dominated by individual merchants who also dealt with banking business, a situation similar to other countries at the time. Development of banking in Denmark also went hand in hand with the general economic development, especially industrialisation. Yet Denmark is also a country where institutionalised banking appeared relatively early. Thus, the first Danish bank, the Kurantbank, was established in 1736. As was usually the case with banks’ initial period of existence, this bank featured both issuing and lending functions. Credit sources were found in the principal and deposits of people and issuing of cheques. Specie Bank, which also performed both issuing and credit functions, was founded in 1791. Both banks were operating successfully until the Napoleonic wars when Denmark slipped into conditions of economic chaos and the monetary system had to be designed completely anew. Hence, Nationalbanken i Kjobenhavn was established in 1818 and later on, it became the central bank and has been operating as such to this day under the name Danmarks Nationalbank. An important milestone was the year 1936 when it was transformed from a private to a public (state-owned) institution. With this bank’s operation, monetary conditions gradually stabilised, the bank created its subsidiaries and slowly moved away from direct lending. As the banking system evolved, it provided the economy with the necessary financial resources through other banks. In this manner it was gradually becoming a true central bank.

The year 1810 was also important, as Denmark’s first regional savings bank was established. It was something of a first herald, as no less than 168 would be established until 1870. They represented a force to reckon with, as they collected four times as many deposits as banking stock companies. The first banking stock company (Fyens Diskonto-Kasse) was established by Danish businessmen in 1846, in Odense. After several “calm” years, a great number of other such companies followed in the 1850s. Among them, Privatbanken i Kjobenhavn, founded in 1857, especially deserves attention as it played an important role in the Danish banking history from the aspect of stimulating entrepreneurship. This bank also grew with take-overs of other smaller banks. Today, it is known by a somewhat different name and is one of the most important banks in the country.

In the 1870s, new banks emerged, some of them having clearly defined profiles intended for filling in certain gaps in the market. Thus, the Den Danske Landmandsbank (1871) was allegedly intended primarily for the countryside, i.e., providing loans for agriculture. It was supposed to issue bonds in order to gain access to resources required for giving loans. However, the Nationalbank intervened, thus prohibiting the issuing of bonds, on the grounds that suchlike operations would undermine its legislatively approved monopoly in issuing rights. Landmandsbank was then reorganised into two units, whereby one was dedicated exclusively to commercial banking and the other was intended for mortgage banking. In 1873, the Kjobenhavns Handelsbank also began operating. As was the case with other banks that held similar names, this bank was predominantly entrusted with bill of exchange business.

The three abovementioned great banks enabled or stimulated the creation of many business companies in the 1890s, the time of accelerated industrialisation. They actively entered many of them via buying their shares and also took part in their management. In so doing, they were competing with numerous similar banking stock companies (140) and a great number of savings banks (510). It is more than obvious that these figures tell of a great fragmentation and an exceptionally bipolar

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je nego očigledno da ove cifte govore o velikoj fragmentaciji i izuzetno izraženoj bipolarnoj strukturi bankarskog sektora. S jedne strane, postojale su tri velike banke, koje su imale kontrolu nad jednom polovinom ukupne aktive u svim komercijalnim bankama, dok je, s druge strane, postojala čitava masa malih banaka i štedionica, što ukazuje na fragmentaciju resursa. Do izbijanja Prvog svetskog rata, komercijalne banke dostigle su nivo štedionica, a što se tiče broja depozita, ove dve kategorije monetarnih institucija postaće skoro jednake.

U drugoj polovini 19. veka, dansko bankarstvo prolazilo je kroz nekoliko kriza. Prva kriza je nastala 1870-tih godina, kada je poljoprivreda bila pogođena padom cena. Nelikvidnost je bila preneta sa farmera na štedionice i usledilo je nekoliko značajnih stečajeva. To je motivisalo vlasti da regulišu poslovne operacije štedionica 1880. godine. Njima je tada bilo odobreno samo da vode sigurno poslovanje i bile su pod javnom kontrolom, dok je isplaćivanje dividendi njihovim vlasnicima bilo zabranjeno. Mnoge štedionice bile su kasnije transformisane u privatne kreditne asocijacije.

Ni u posleratnom periodu, po završetku Prvog svetskog rata, nije bilo poboljšanja, jer je bankarstvo prolazilo kroz teška vremena. Na osnovu ranijeg iskustva, 1919. godine izglasan je zakon kojim je odobrena državna kontrola nad poslovnim operacijama banaka i postavljeni kriterijumi za procenu solventnosti i likvidnosti banaka. Usvojena je 1930. godine i dodatna regulativa o izloženosti banaka rizicima. Banke su bile podložne ograničenjima u odnosu na iznos odobrenog kredita pojedinačnim dužnicima, što nije smelo da bude više od jedne trećine dužnikove aktive. Naime, neuravnotežena politika kreditiranja - pored neuređenosti opštih ekonomskih uslova, koji su stimulisali špekulativno poslovanje - bila je jedan od važnih uzroka problema u bankarstvu 20-tih godina dvadesetog veka.

Između 1927. i 1931. godine, u skladu sa duhom toga vremena, Danci su se pridružili ponovo uspostavljenom zlatnom standardu u predratnom paritetu u odnosu na britansku funtu sterlinga. To je izazvalo veliku deflaciju, koja je uticala i na banke kroz narušenu likvidnost poslovnih kompanija. Tokom velike

ekonomske depresije, Nationalbank je ponudila značajnu pomoć bankama, naročito onim velikim, kao što je to bila Handelsbank, da bi joj pomogla da se spase od neprilika. Zahvaljujući ovoj darežljivoj intervenciji centralne banke, danski bankarski sistem nije pretrpeo teža oštećenja tokom krize i potom je bio sposoban, krajem tridesetih, da pruži podršku ekonomskoj konjukturi.

Ni međuratni period nije doneo neke značajnije strukturne promene u bankarskom sistemu Danske. Čak i pre izbijanja Drugog svetskog rata, ovaj sistem je još uvek bio bipolaran, u kome se nalazilo nekoliko velikih i veoma veliki broj malih banaka i štedionica. Dalje, ova struktura istrajala je tokom većine posleratnih godina, pa sve do 60-tih godina, kada su uslovi postepeno počeli da se menjaju. Krajem 50-tih godina prošlog veka, Danska je počela sa platnim transferima ličnih primanja na bankovne račune. Ova reforma prouzrokovala je ogroman razvoj komercijalnog bankarstva, što je stvorilo široko rasprostranjenu mrežu subsidijara. U smislu privlačenja klijenata među stanovništvom, komercijalne banke su bile mnogo uspešnije od štedionica, koje su do tada uglavnom imale kontrolu nad poslovanjem sa stanovništvom. Važan podstrek za dalje širenje mreže komercijalnih banaka nastao je sa ubrzanom industrijalizacijom tokom 60-tih godina, koja se širila i u udaljenijim delovima

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structure of the banking sector. On the one side, there were the three big banks, which were in control of one half of total assets of all commercial banks, whereas on the other, there were masses of small banks and savings banks, which implies the fragmentation of resources. Until World War I, commercial banks would catch up with savings banks and, as far as the number of deposits is concerned, the two categories of monetary institutions would become almost equal.

In the second half of the 19th century, Danish banking went through several crises. The first one came in the 1870s when agriculture was hit by a crisis due to the decline in prices. Illiquidity was transferred from farmers to savings banks and several resounding failures occurred. This motivated the authorities to regulate the business operations of savings banks in 1880. They were only allowed to conduct safe business and were subjected to public control and paying out dividends to their owners was forbidden. Many of the savings banks were subsequently transformed into private credit associations.

The period following World War I brought no relief, either, as banking experienced hard times. On the basis of past experience, a law was passed in 1919, which enabled state control of banks’ business operations and set down criteria for evaluating solvency and liquidity

of banks. In 1930, additional regulation on banks’ exposure to risks was passed. Banks were subjected to limitations as to the amount of lending to individual borrowers, which could not exceed one third of a borrower’s assets. Namely, imbalanced credit policy – in addition to the disorder of general economic conditions, which stimulated speculative business – was one of the important reasons of banking problems during the 1920s.

Between 1927 and 1931, in line with the Zeitgeist of the time, the Danes acceded to the reinstatement of the gold standard in pre-war parity relative to the British Pound. This provoked a large deflation, which affected banks as well, namely through impaired liquidity of business companies. During the Great Economic Depression, the Nationalbank offered significant assistance to banks, especially the larger ones, such as the Handelsbank, in order to help them get out of trouble. Because of this generous intervention of the central bank, Danish banking system did not suffer heavily during the crisis and was consequently able to support economic conjuncture towards the end of the 1930s.

The interwar period did not bring about any significant structural change in Danish banking. Even prior to the World War II, this system was still bipolar, featuring a few large and very many small banks and savings banks. Moreover, this structure endured through most of the post-war years, up until 1960s when conditions gradually began to change. By the end of 1950s, Denmark began transferring payments of personal incomes to banking accounts. This reform caused a tremendous boom of commercial banking, which created a widespread network of subsidiaries. In terms of gaining customers among citizens, commercial banks were much more successful than savings banks, which up to then had mostly been in control of business with citizens. An important boost for the expansion of subsidiary network of commercial banks came with the hastened industrialisation of the 1960s, which expanded to the countryside as well. Many savings banks were unable to meet the new companies’ demands for money, especially due to limitations imposed on the amount of loans granted to individual clients. 1990 was important for savings banks as their

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zemlje. Mnoge štedionice nisu bile u stanju da zadovolje zahteve novih kompanija u smislu obezbeđivanja sredstava, naročito usled uvedenih ograničenja na iznos odobrenih kredita individualnim klijentima. Godina 1990. bila je važna za štedionice, tada su njihova pravila poslovanja izjednačena sa onima važećim za komercijalne banke, a bilo im je odobreno i da se transformišu u akcionarska društva.

Tokom 80-tih godina, liberalizacija tokova kapitala i pojednostavljenje procedura za osnivanje bankarskih subsidijara u inostranstvu, značajno je promenilo uslove bankarskog poslovanja. Sve do tada, dansko bankarstvo bilo je dobro zaštićeno od inostrane konkurencije. Kao rezultat toga, nastala su strahovanja da domaće banke neće biti u stanju da igraju ravnopravnu igru sa stranom konkurencijom, pod novim uslovima. Međutim, ispostavilo se da ova strahovanja nisu bila opravdana: ne samo da je dansko bankarstvo uspelo da uhvati korak sa stranom konkurencijom, već je i napravilo jedan korak napred, jer je delimično internacionalizovalo svoje poslovanje, doduše u skromnom obimu. Zbog želje da poboljša svoj položaj na tržištu, bankarstvo je ušlo u svoju eru "brakova". Već do 1990-tih godina, broj komercijalnih banaka se smanjio na 72, a broj štedionica bio je smanjen na 125. Vodeći igrači u tom procesu bile su tri velike banke. Shodno tome, integracijom Handelsbank, Den Danske Bank (Landmandsbank) i nekoliko regionalnih banaka, stvorena je Den Danske Bank. Druga grupa integracija bila je pod vođstvom tradicionalne i uvažene Privatbank, koja se pripajanjem nekih manjih banka i velikih štedionica trasformisala i pretvorila u Unibank 1990. godine (Johansen, 1994; Märcher, 2010).

Norveška

Baš kao i sama Norveška, razvoj bankarstva u toj zemlji imao je neka idiosinkratska svojstva, koja nisu bila prisutna u drugim zemljama. Prvenstveno ovde treba naglasiti važnu ulogu javnog sektora/države u finansiranju ekonomske inicijative i srodno tome umanjenje

uloge komercijalnih banaka. Era komercijalnog bankarstva stigla je tek u poslednjoj deceniji 19. veka. Međutim, to ne znači da nije bilo komercijalnih banaka u Norveškoj i pre tog vremena. One jesu postojale i ranije, ali je njihova uloga bila veoma daleko od uloge njihovih pandana u drugim evorpskim zemljama. Interesantno je napomenuti, da je usled jake uloge javnog sektora još od ranih 1800-tih godina uloga velikih trgovaca u poslovima sa novcem bila neznatna. Kada je Norveška pala pod vlast Švedske krune i dobila neformalnu nezavisnost, bankarstvo je krenulo novim putem. Osnivanje banke koja bi opsluživala norveške zemlje bio je jedan od fundamentalnih (mada zanemarenih) zahteva poslovnih krugova, upućen danskim vlastima. Međutim, nedostatak uspeha brzo je bio kompenzovan pod novim okolnostima, kada je 1816. godine osnovana Norges Bank, Banka Norveške. Ova banka dobila je tada ekskluzivna prava na emitovanje novca, što je bila još jedna od norveških posebnosti. Tokom najvećeg dela 19. veka, Norges Bank daleko je bila od toga da igra ulogu centralne banke. Ta je uloga postala važna krajem veka, kada je počelo da se razvija komercijalno bankarstvo. Pre toga, komercijalna funkcija bila je mnogo više naglašena. Naime, banka je izrasla u veoma važnog kreditora, kroz mrežu svojih subsidijara. Ova banka je bila asocirana sa takozvanim "diskontnim komisijama". To je predstavljalo jedinstvenu norvešku instituciju,1 koja je imala namenu da olakša tražnju za kreditima. Ove komisije dobijale su sredstva direktno od vlade. Prvobitno zamišljene kao improvizovani instrument za kompenzaciju nedostatka bankarske ponude, sredinom 19. veka, one će postati važna prepreka stvaranju i razvoju komercijalnog bankarstva. Razlog tome je prvenstveno bila činjenica da su neke od komisija širile obim i način svog poslovanja, na način koji ih je postepeno doveo do toga da su postale neka vrsta surogata komercijalnih banaka. Treći segment javnog bankarskog sektora bile su štedionice, u vlasništvu opština ili regiona, koje su se skoro udvostručile tokom prve polovine 19. veka. One su imale prevashodnu namenu da pružaju

1 Kasnije je sličan model bio primenjen u drugim zemljama. Najbliži našem iskustvu je primer kada je Jugoslovenska vlada osnovala takozvane "Agrarne kreditne zadruge" 10 godina pre Drugog svetskog rata. Njihova uloga bila je jedino da nude kredite farmerima na bazi budžetskih fondova koji su im bili dodeljeni.

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rules of conducting business were completely equalised with those in force for commercial banks and they were also allowed to transform into stock companies.

In the 1980s, the liberalisation of capital flows and simplified establishing of bank subsidiaries abroad significantly changed the conditions of banking business. Until then, Danish banking had been well protected against foreign competition. As a result, fears emerged that domestic banking would be incapable of playing an equal game with foreign competition under the new circumstances. However, this anxiety turned out to be unjustified: not only did Danish banking manage to catch the pace of foreign competition, it also made another step, as it partly internationalised itself, albeit to a modest degree. Because of the desire to improve the positions on the market, banking entered the era of “marriages”. Until the 1990s, the number of commercial banks had declined to 72 and the number of savings banks had been reduced to 125. The leading players in this process were the three largest banks. Accordingly, the merger of the Handelsbank, Den Danske Bank (Landmandsbank) and several regional banks, the Den Danske Bank was created. The other group of mergers was led by the venerable-age Privatbank, which, joined by some other smaller banks and large savings banks, transformed itself into the Unibank in 1990 (Johansen, 1994; Märcher, 2010)

Norway

Much the same like Norway itself, the development of banking in this country had some idiosyncratic properties that were not present in other states. In the first place, an exceptionally important role of the public sector/the state in the financing of economic initiative and the associated diminished role of commercial banks needs to be emphasised. The era of commercial banking only arrived in the last decade of the 19th century. However, this is not to say that there had been no commercial banks in Norway prior to that time. They had

existed before, but their role was a far cry from that of their counterparts in other European states. Interestingly, due to the strong role of the public sector ever since the early 1800s, great merchants’ role in money business was unnoticeable. When Norway was submitted to the rule of the Swedish crown and it was granted informal independence, the banking stepped on a new path. The establishment of a bank that would serve the Norwegian lands had been one of the fundamental (albeit unheeded) requests of business circles addressed at the Danish authorities. However, lack of success was quickly compensated under the new circumstances in 1816. Norges Bank, the Bank of Norway was established. This bank was then granted exclusive rights to issuing money, which was another Norwegian peculiarity. For the best part of the 19th century, Norges Bank was far from playing the role of a central bank. This role became important at the end of the century when commercial banking took off. Prior to that, its commercial function had been much more emphasised. Namely, the bank evolved into a very important lender through its network of subsidiaries. This bank was also associated by the so-called “discount commissions”. These represented a uniquely Norwegian institution,1 intended to help alleviate the demand for credits. These commissions received funds directly from government. Initially conceived as an improvised emergency instrument to compensate for the shortage of commercial banking supply, by the mid-1800s, they would become an important obstacle to the creation and development of commercial banking. The reason for this was primarily the fact that certain commissions expanded the scope and manner of conducting business in a way which gradually led them to become a sort of a surrogate for commercial banks. The third segment of the public banking sector was represented by savings banks, owned by municipalities or regions, which multiplied during the first half of the 19th century. They were primarily intended to support the economic development of individual administrative territories. In the

1 Later, a similar model was applied by different states. Closest to our experience is the example of the 20 years before the Second World War, when Yugoslav government founded the so-called “Cooperatives for Agricultural Credit”. Their role was merely to offer loans to farmers on the basis of budgetary funds they were allocated.

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podršku ekonomskom razvoju individualnih administrativnih teritorija. Krajem 1840-tih godina, njima se pridružila Mortgage Bank (Hipotekarna banka) u državnom vlasništvu. Njena je misija bila da omogući farmerima pristup dugoročnim sredstvima, kako bi se olakšala ili stimulisala modernizacija poljoprivrede.

Do sredine 19. veka, norveške vlasti uspele su da pokriju širok spektar aktivnosti svojim javnim bankarskim sektorom, ostavljajući malo prostora za komercijalno bankarstvo. Javni sektor je bio dobro obezbeđen kapitalom, pošto je država emitovala obveznice na stranim finansijskim tržištima. Poverenje u solventnost norveške vlade bilo je dovoljno veliko da omogući vladi pristup adekvatnim sumama stranih finansijskih sredstava, u bilo koje vreme. Ovaj izvor je korišćen za finansiranje izgradnje komunikacionih mreža, tj. železnice, puteva i telegrafa. Međutim, značajan deo potražnje i dalje je ostajao nepokriven, jer je javni sektor bio više usmeren ka dugoročnom kreditiranju, što je rezultiralo nedovoljnom ponudom kratkoročnih kredita za razvoj poslovnog sektora. To je postao prostor koji je dao šansu komercijalnim bankama. Prva od njih, koja je popločala put i drugima posle nje, bila je banka osnovana 1848. godine u Kristianiji, današnjem Oslu. Neki od najbogatnijih trgovaca pridružili su se njihovim naporima i lansirali rad čuvene Christiania Kreditkasse, koja je postojala čitav vek i po. Krajem 1870-tih godina, nastaje deset akcionarskih društava u raznim gradovima po čitavoj zemlji. Ovu kreaciju su ohrabrivali preduzetnici, koji su bili nezadovoljni onim što im je nudio javni sektor. Do perioda između dva svetska rata, tokom 20. veka, komercijalne banke će ostati fragmentisane, sa skoro nepostojećim subsidijarima. Tokom druge polovine 19. veka, njih su dodatno stesnile ambiciozne štedionice, koje su postepeno širile obim svog poslovanja, usmeravajući raspoloživa sredstva u druge poslovne namene, ne obraćajući mnogo pažnju na napredak lokalnih zajednica.

Mada će se broj komercijalnih banaka umnožiti sve do 200, one nisu uspele da preuzmu lidersku ulogu na tržištu pre prelaska u novi vek. Ta tranzicija je nastala tek u periodu prve dve decenije 20. veka, što potvrđuje činjenica da su, 1920. godine, komercijalne banke odobrile 60% svih kredita u zemlji.

Međutim, usled njihove fragmentacije, one još uvek nisu bile u stanju da pribavljaju velika sredstva tokom dužih vremenskih perioda, ili za dugoročne investicije. Istovremeno, nastala je i jedna zanimljiva situacija, jedna od norveških osobenosti. Kako je javni sektor gubio dominaciju na tržištu kredita, zakonodavstvo nije sledilo put da donosi adekvatnu zakonsku regulativu i pojača kontrolu nad komercijalnim bankarstvom. Banke su bile prepuštene sopstvenom snalaženju. Nesumnjivo je to vodilo u propast u budućnosti. Tačno se to desilo, pošto je međuratni period bilo vreme poteškoća za norveško bankarstvo. Povratak na zlatni standard, sa svim njegovim negativnim uticajima, doneo je teška iskušenja tokom 20-tih godina, i nakon izbijanja Velike ekonomske depresije u 30-tim godinama prošlog veka. Pitanje likvidnosti bilo je izuzetno teško. Jedna petina bankarskih institucija (javnih i privatnih) bila je toliko teško pogođena da su bile primorane ili da odu u stečaj, ili da se integrišu sa onim čvrše utemeljenim bankarskim institucijama. Norveški bankarski sistem se oporavio zahvaljujući više nego značajnoj intervenciji države i darežljivoj podršci centralne banke.

Tako je započela nova era, era regulative. Bankarski sektor nije bio dovoljno regulisan tokom prethodnih decenija, ali sada, razvoj je krenuo upravo u obrnutom pravcu. Javni sektor, koji je pretrpeo manje štete u godinama krize pre Drugog svetskog rata, još jednom je bio ojačan. Uloga centralne banke, kao kreditora, ponovo

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late 1840s, they were joined by the state-owned Mortgage Bank. Its mission was to give farmers access to long-term funds in order to facilitate or stimulate the modernisation of agriculture.

By the middle of the 19th century, Norwegian authorities had managed to cover a wide spectrum of activities by the public banking sector, leaving little room for commercial banking. The public sector was well-provided with capital as the state issued bonds on foreign financial markets. Trust in Norwegian government’s solvency was large enough so as to allow the government access to adequate sums of foreign financial resources at any time. This source was also used to fund the construction of communication networks, i.e., railway, road and telegraph. However, a significant part of demand still remained unsatisfied, because the public sector was more oriented towards long-term lending, resulting in insufficient supply of short-term loans for the developing business sector. And this was the place of opportunity for commercial banks. The first one, which paved the way for others, was a bank that was established in 1848, in Christiania, modern Oslo. Some of the richest merchants joined their efforts and started the famous Christiania Kreditkasse, which existed for a century and a half. By the end of the 1870s, ten banking stock companies would emerge in different cities across the country. Their creation was encouraged by entrepreneurs who were dissatisfied with what public sector offered them. Until the 20th century interwar period,

commercial banks would remain fragmented, having hardly any subsidiaries. During the second half of the 19th century, they were additionally squeezed by the ambitious savings banks, which were gradually expanding the scope of their business, allocating available resources to other business purposes beyond taking care of local communities’ progress.

Although the number of commercial banks would multiply to over 200, they had still not managed to assume a leading role on the market before the turn of the century. This transition was only brought about by the first two decades of the 20th century, which was confirmed by the fact that, in 1920, commercial banks issued 60% of all loans. However, due to their fragmentation, they were still unable to muster larger funds for longer periods of time or long-term investments. At the same time, an interesting situation arose, also a Norwegian peculiarity. As the public sector was losing dominance on the credit market, the legislation did not follow suit so as to provide for adequate regulation and control of commercial banking. Banks were rather left to their own devices. Unquestionably this spelled disaster for the future. And exactly this would happen, as the interwar period was the time of hardship for Norwegian banking. The return to the gold standard with all its negative impacts during the 1920s and the following Great Economic Depression of the 1930s ushered in harsh ordeals. The issue of liquidity was exceptionally pressing. One fifth of banking institutions (both public and private) was so badly hit that they had to be either liquidated or merged with more firmly based banking institutions. The Norwegian banking system only picked up thanks to more than substantial state intervention and generous support on the part of the central bank.

Thus, a new era began, an era of regulation. The banking sector had been insufficiently regulated during the preceding decades, but now, the development went into the opposite direction. The public sector, which had suffered less damage in the years of crisis prior to the Second World War, was once again reinforced. The role of the central bank as a lender once again increased. Due to the importance and pressing socio-economic effects, the bank took

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je porasla. Usled važnosti i teških društveno-ekonomskih posledica, banka je preuzela neizmirena dugovanja koja komercijalne banke nisu mogle da naplate, nadoknađujući time gubitak aktive i omogućavajući im da nastave sa obavljanjem njihovih poslovnih operacija. Istovremeno, država je stimulisala osnivanje specijalnih fondova, namenski određenih za zadovoljavanje tražnje za kreditima za ribarstvo, poljoprivredu, trgovačku flotu i industriju.

Po završetku Drugog svetskog rata, uloga države i javnog bankarstva povećaće se još više. Sve velike investicije bile su finansirane sredstvima obezbeđenih iz javnog bankarstva, sa izvorima sredstava uglavnom iz inostranstva - po oprobanom receptu koji je već bio primenjen u prošlosti. Vlada je uvela režim niskih kamatnih stopa, strogu regulativu za kreditno tržište i kontrolisanu berzu, što je omogućilo državi da bankarska sredstva alocira u skladu sa svojim sopstvenim idejama i potrebama. Štedionice i komercijalne banke, ali i zanimljivo je primetiti, i osiguravajuća društva, morale su da investiraju značajan deo svog portfolija u državne obveznice. Istovremeno, i dalje se nastavljalo osnivanje specijalizovanih banaka u vlasništvu države da posluže za razne namene, na primer za velike građevinske projekte stambene izgradnje. Tada su i osiguravajuća društva ušla na tržište. Stoga ne iznenađuje što su takvi uslovi pomogli da se značaj i uloga komercijalnog bankarstva polagano smanjuje. Podaci za kraj 80-tih godina više su nego ilustrativni. Komercijalne banke bile su ostavljene sa samo tesnom jednom petinom udela u kreditnom tržištu, ne mnogo više od udela koje su kontrolisala osiguravajuća društva i štedionice. Lavovski udeo na tom tržištu očigledno je pripadao bankarstvu u javnom sektoru. Međutim, diskriminacija komercijalnih banaka u odnosu na poslovni sektor nije se protezala do bankarstva sa stanovništvom - ritejl sektora. U toj kategoriji, banke su bile veoma jake i uspevale su da sakupljaju veliki deo štednje stanovništva usled rasta ličnih primanja. One su bile jake i na području potrošačkih kredita. U tom pogledu, njih su sledile štedionice, koje su počele sve više da naginju ka komercijalnim bankama, u smislu karaktera svojih poslovnih operacija. Ekspanzija rada banaka sa stanovništvom bila je jedan od

pokretačkih faktora za komercijalno bankarstvo i za štedionice. Široko rasprostranjena mreža subsidijara, tj. geografski raširena dostupnost uslugama, bila je preduslov za rast ritejl bankarstva. To isto tako potvrđuju sledeće cifre: do 1980. godine, broj komercijalnih banaka stabilizovao se na 25, dok je broj štedionica bio prepolovljen.

Poslednja razvojna faza usledila je krajem 70-tih i tokom 80-tih godina prošlog veka. Norveška je krenula putem liberalizacije i deregulacije bankarskog tržišta. Od sredine 80-tih, godina, vlade su namerno restrukturirale bankarski sistem, prateći primer drugih zemalja. Komercijalne banke u privatnom vlasništvu i štedionice, konačno su doživele svoj vrhunac. Oslobođene od ograničenja koje je nametala država, privatne banke su značajno povećale priliv sredstava iz poslovnog sektora, kao i svoj sopstveni udeo u kreditnom tržištu. Za samo nekoliko godina, one su uspele da prevaziđu 50 postotni udeo, dok su izuzetno proširivale svoju mrežu subsidijara, jer su bile u stanju da je prilagođavaju u skladu sa svojim sopstvenim potrebama i interesima, jer nikakve specijalne dozvole više nisu bile potrebne za te svrhe. Razne privatne investicione i finansijske kompanije takođe su ušle na tržište, što je do tada njima bilo zabranjeno. Liberalizacija finansijskih usluga istovremeno je povlačila za sobom ulazak stranih banaka na norveško tržište, nešto što je bukvalno bilo nezamislivo tokom skoro čitava prethodna dva veka.

Kratkoročno gledano, liberalizacija, koja je bila usmerena na povećanje konkurentnosti norveškog bankarstva, pokazala se kao zabluda. Bankari su imali poteškoća u prilagođavanju novom ambijentu. Oni su pridavali više važnosti poslovnoj ekspanziji nego profitabilnosti. U takvim slučajevima, odsustvo budnosti obično je povećavalo opasnost od rizičnih investicija. Nije trebalo da prođe mnogo vremena pa da banke i štedionice zapadnu u velike probleme solventnosti, koji su se pojavili krajem 80-tih godina. Brza i odlučna intervencija vlade i centralne banke sprečila je izbijanje veće krize. Tokom perioda rehabilitacije bankarskog sistema, preduzimane su integracije i nacionalizacije banaka i štedionica u poteškoćama, a time se ponovo uvećao udeo javnog sektora, što je očigledno ostalo kao prevashodna odlika

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over outstanding debts incurred on commercial banks, thus compensating for the loss of assets and enabling them to carry on with their business operations. At the same time, the state stimulated the establishment of special funds, purpose-made to meet the credit demands of fisheries, agriculture, merchant marine and industry.

After World War II, the role of the state and public banking would increase even further. All large investments were financed through resources provided by public banking, with sources mainly coming from abroad – a proven recipe already applied in the past. The government imposed a regime of low interest rates, strict regulation of the credit market and controlled stock market, which enabled the state to allocate banking assets according to its own ideas and needs. Savings banks and commercial banks, but, interestingly, insurance companies as well, had to invest a significant portion of their assets into government bonds. At the same time, the establishing of specialised state-owned banks to serve different purposes, e.g., large-scale housing projects, continued. Hereby, insurance companies also entered the market. Not surprisingly, such conditions meant that the importance and role of commercial banking was slowly diminishing. The data for the late 1980s are more than telltale. Commercial banks were left with only a tight one-fifth share of the credit market, not much more than what insurance companies and savings banks controlled. The lion’s share self-evidently belonged to the public banking sector. However, discrimination of commercial banks as regards the business sector did not stretch to the retail banking. In this category, banks were very strong and managed to collect a large portion of people’s savings due to rising personal incomes. They were also strong as concerns consumer lending. In this respect, they were followed by savings banks, which were converging more and more towards commercial banks in terms of character of their business operations. The expansion of retail banking was one of the driving factors of both commercial banking and savings banks. A widespread subsidiary network, i.e., geographically dispersed accessibility of services was the precondition for the growth in retail banking. This is also corroborated by the

figures: until 1980, the number of commercial banks had stabilised at 25, whereas the number of savings banks had been halved.

The last developmental stage came at the end of the 1970s and in the 1980s. Norway, too, entered the path of liberalisation and deregulation of the banking market. Since the mid 1980s, governments were deliberately restructuring the banking system, following the example of other states. Privately owned commercial banks and savings banks finally met their heyday. Freed from state-imposed restraints, private banks substantially increased the intake of assets in the business sector, as well as their own share on the credit market. In only a few years, they managed to exceed the 50-per cent share, whilst exceptionally expanding their subsidiary network, for they were able to adapt it according to their own needs and interests, as no special permits were required for that purpose. Various private investment and financial companies also entered the market, which had been prohibited from doing so up to then. The liberalisation of financial services at the same time entailed the entry of foreign banks onto the Norwegian market, something which had been virtually inconceivable for almost two centuries before.

In the short term, the liberalisation, which was aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Norwegian banking turned out to be a delusion. Bankers had a difficulty adapting to the new settings. They gave more significance to business expansion rather than its profitability. In such cases, absence of vigilance usually increases the danger of risky investments. It did not take long before banks and savings banks would fall into great solvency problems, which already occurred in the late 1980s. A quick and determined intervention of the government and the central bank prevented the onset of a wider crisis. During the course of the banking system rehabilitation, mergers and nationalisations of compromised banks and savings banks were undertaken, thus once again increasing the share of the public sector, which has obviously remained the prevalent trait of the Norwegian banking up to this day. As far as 1990s are concerned, further consolidation of the banking system via mergers, both at national and international levels, is noteworthy. In terms of

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norveškog bankarstva sve do naših dana. Što se tiče 90-tih godina, važno je uočiti dalju konsolidaciju bankarskog sistema putem integracija na nacionalnom i međunarodnom nivou. U smislu ovih potonjih, naročito je istaknut slučaj Christiania Kreditkasse, koja se integrisala sa finsko-švedskom Merita Nordbanken i danskom Unibank, 2001. godine, da bi se formirala Nordea bank, supra-regionalna nordijska and baltička banka, (Norvik, 1995; Lange, 1994).

Finska

Početak finskog bankarstva seže duboko u 19. vek. Zahvaljujući lojalnosti ruskim carevima u zemlji je otvorena prva banka. Godine 1811. osnovana je Bank of Finland (Suomen Pankki), koja je, kao što je to tada bio običaj, ujedinjavala i komercijalnu i emisionu funkciju. Komercijalna dimenzija njenog poslovanja bila je prilično skromna, dok je emisiona funkcija bila izraženija. Tokom nekoliko decenija, banka će na finskoj teritoriji regulisati dve valute u opticaju, švedsku krunu i rusku rublju. Od 1840-tih godina pa nadalje, ona je pokrenula sopstveno emitovanje rublje na srebrnoj podlozi. Usled poraza u Krimskom ratu, rublja je izgubila svaku vezu sa srebrom, što je dovelo do velike monetarne nestabilnosti tokom nekoliko godina, zajedno sa rastom tražnje za novcem. Naime, trgovina drvnom građom sve je više hvatala zamah. Car je imao veliko razumevanje za potrebe Finske, što je dovelo do toga da Finska 1860. godine usvoji svoju sopstvenu monetu, finsku marku (Finnish Markka). Zadatak obezbeđivanja stabilnosti nove valute bio je poveren banci, koja je postajala prava centralna banka, sa sve većim ovlašćenjima nadzora nakon 1875. godine. Marka je ubrzo postavljena na zlatnu podlogu (1878. godine) i uspela je da opstane sve do izbijanja vihora Prvog svetskog rata. Po završetku Velikog rata, zlatni paritet bio je obnovljen, da bi bio ponovo napušten za vreme velike ekonomske depresije.

Tokom mnogih decenija, tražnju za kreditima zadovoljavala je Bank of Finland, ali isto tako i privatni preduzetnici, obično veliki trgovci, a nakon 1820. godine i jedna štedionica. Opšti ekonomski razvoj pratio je pravi bum bankarstva. Kako se industrijalizacija ubrzavala

tokom 1860-tih godina, napredak je usledio i u bankarskom sektoru. Narednih decenija, formiran je kompletan bankarski sistem, uključujući i akcionarska društva u privatnom vlasništvu, banke u državnom vlasništvu, kao i mreža štedionica na lokalnom nivou, plus kreditne unije. Gradovi i poslovni sektor bili su pod kontrolom komercijalnih banaka, koje su obično imale svoje centrale locirane u Helsinkiju, dok je stanovništvo imalo na raspolaganju bezbrojne štedionice i kreditne unije. Komercijalne banke uživale su direktan pristup kreditima koje je odobravala centralna banka, dok štedionice i kreditne unije nisu imale tu pogodnost. Međutim, ove dve potonje kategorije zaobilazile su propise tako što su osnivale bankarske akcionarske kompanije na vrhu piramide u strukturi svojih mreža.

Bankarska akcionarska društva počela su da se množe nakon što je put za njih prokrčila Suomen Yhdys-Pankki (Ujedinjena banka Finske), osnovana 1862. godine. Ova inicijativa bila je uslovljena stvarnim ekonomskim potrebama, ali ipak bazirana na nacionalnim (nacionalističkim) osnovama, jer su finski biznismeni želeli da postignu kapitalnu nezavisnost od ruskih institucija. Prema tome, njeni akcionari su bili preko hiljadu uticajnih biznismena i drugih javnih ličnosti, te otud i ime banke. Kako banka nije dobila emisiona prava kojima su se vlasnici nadali, to je ona postala sve više orijentisana ka akumulaciji štednje i u tu svrhu se njena mreža subsidijara prostirala po čitavoj zemlji. Međutim, sa osnivanjem sledeće banke, strani kapital je već ušao na tlo Finske. Tako je početkom 1870-tih godina osnovana banka Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki Kauppaa ja Teollisuutta varten. Kako se očekivanja nemačkih investitora, da će prodreti na rusko tržište tako što će napraviti ovaj Helsinki "zaokret", nisu u potpunosti realizovala, oni su odlučili da se povuku. Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki je tada koncentrisala sve svoje napore na domaćem tržištu i počela da konkuriše Suomen Yhdys-Pankki. Sličnosti u njhovim modelima poslovanja i strukturi ciljane klijentele, bili su razlozi da se obe banke integrišu, ubrzo pošto je Finska postigla svoju nezavisnost, što je rezultiralo u bankarskoj instituciji pod zajedničkim imenom Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki, značajnoj instituciji, za prilike u Finskoj. Treća važna banka imala

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the latter, Christiania Kreditkasse, which merged with the Finnish-Swedish Merita Nordbanken and Danish Unibank in 2001 to form the Nordea bank, the supra-regional Nordic and Baltic bank, is especially prominent (Norvik, 1995; Lange, 1994)

Finland

The beginnings of Finnish banking reach deep into the 19th century. Loyalty to the Russian Tsars gave the country its first bank. In 1811, the Bank of Finland (Suomen Pankki) was founded, which, as was usual back then, united both commercial and issuing functions. The commercial dimension of its operations was rather modest, though, with the issuing function being more prominent. For several decades, the bank would regulate the circulation of two currencies, the Swedish Krona and Russian Rouble in the Finnish territory. From 1840s onwards, it turned to its own issuance of Roubles on silver base. Because of the defeat in the Crimea War, the Rouble lost every connection with silver, resulting in several years of grave monetary instability, accompanied by an increase in money demand. Namely, trade with timber was gaining increasing momentum. The Tsar had a great understanding for Finnish needs, which resulted in Finland adopting its own currency in 1860, the Finnish Markka. The task of providing stability to the new currency was entrusted to the bank, which was becoming a true central bank with increasing oversight competences after 1875. The Markka was soon put on a gold basis (1878) and managed to remain so until the turmoil of the World War I. After the Great War, gold parity was renewed, only to be once again renounced during the Great Economic Depression.

For many decades, credit demand was met by the Bank of Finland, but also by private entrepreneurs, usually bigger merchants and, after 1820, by one of the savings banks as well. A true banking boom followed the general economic development. As the industrialisation accelerated in the 1860s, the accompanying headway occurred in the banking sector. In the course of decades, a complete banking system was formed, comprising privately-owned stock companies, state-owned banks and a network

of local-level savings banks plus credit unions. The cities and business sector were controlled by commercial banks, which usually had their headquarters located in Helsinki, whereas the population had a myriad of savings banks and credit unions at its disposal. Commercial banks enjoyed direct access to credits issued by the central bank, whereas savings banks and credit unions did not. However, the latter two categories circumvented legislative provisions by establishing banking stock companies atop of their pyramidal network structure.

Banking stock companies began to multiply after the path had been cleared for them by the Suomen Yhdys-Pankki, Eng. United Bank of Finland, established in 1862. This initiative was conditioned by a real economic need, yet based on national(-istic) grounds, as Finnish businessmen desired to achieve capital independence from Russian institutions. Therefore, shareholders included over a thousand prominent businessmen and other public personalities, hence the bank’s name. Because the bank was not granted issuing rights its owners had hoped for, it was that much more oriented towards accumulating savings and, for this purpose its network of subsidiaries was spread throughout the country. However, with the next bank to be established, foreign capital already entered Finnish soil. Thus, in early 1870s, the Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki Kauppaa ja Teollisuutta varten was established. Because the expectations of German investors to penetrate the Russian market by taking this Helsinki “detour” were not completely realised, they decided to withdraw. Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki would then concentrate all of its efforts on the domestic market and began competing with the Suomen Yhdys-Pankki. Similarities in their business models and the structure of the target customers were the reasons for both banks to merge a short time after Finland had achieved its independence, resulting in a bank institution with a common name Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki, a respectful institution for the situation in Finland. The third important bank had its roots in the last decade of the 19th century. Its creation was prompted by Russian political pressures for changing the status of autonomy, because Finnish banking structure was sought to be further reinforced. This led

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je svoje korene u poslednjoj deceniji 19. veka. Njeno stvaranje bilo je inicirano ruskim političkim pritiscima za promenu statusa autonomije, jer je finska bankarska struktura nastojala da sve više ojačava. To je dovelo do osnivanja Kansallis Osake Pankki, gde je kupovina njenih akcija bila zamišljena kao patriotski čin, pre nego pitanje racionalne investicije. U takvoj nacionalnoj atmosferi, banka je uspela da sakupi relativno veliku glavnicu - u finskim uslovima - što je olakšalo njen ulazak na tržište od samog početka. Sve do Prvog svetskog rata, osnovane su 23 banke kao akcionarska društva. One su imale mrežu svojih subsidijara, čiji je broj prevazilazio 100. Većina njih je poslovala u unutrašnjosti, dok je tržište u celini bilo pod dominacijom gore pomenute tri velike banke, čiji je ukupan zajednički bilans stanja predstavljao 80% od sveukupne aktive.

Osnivanje hipotekarnih banaka bilo je važno za ruralno stanovništvo, koje je bilo u stanju da angažuje dugoročne hipotekarne kredite. Prva takva ustanova počela je sa poslovanjem 1861. godine, pod imenom Suomen Hypoteekkiyhdistys. Ona nije imala nikakvu konkurenciju do sredine 1890-tih godina, kada se pojavila Oy Suomen Kaupunkien Hypoteekkikassa, koja je imala veze sa kapitalom nemačkih investitora iz Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki Kauppaa ja Toellisuutta varten. Međutim, ti strani investitori videli su svoju poslovnu šansu u finansiranju poslovanja sa nekretninama u gradovima, a ne u provinciji, usled urbanizacije koja je uzimala zamaha. Pod imenom Suomen Kiinteistöpankki Oy 1907. godine osnovana je još jedna hipotekarna banka. Te tri banke su držale kontrolu nad poslovanjem sa hipotekarnim kreditima. One su tražile izvore svojih sredstava u emitovanju obveznica u inostranstvu, tj. na stranim tržištima kapitala.

Do izbijanja Prvog svetskog rata, rast bankarskog sektora bio je evidentan i u drugim oblastima. U skladu sa komercijalnim i hipotekarnim bankama povećavao se i broj raznih štedionica na lokalnom nivou i kreditnih unija. Mreža lokalnih štedionica imala je impresivan broj od 443. jedinice. Mnoge od njih bile su majušne, naročito one u seoskim sredinama. Obično su se iza njih nalazile lokalne vlasti, opštine, distrikti, itd. Pojedinačne štedionice nisu imale mnogo uticaja, ali u celini, one su sakupljale oko jedne

četvrtine celokupne štednje u Finskoj, dok je u smislu kreditiranja, njihov udeo bio najviše jedna petina. Poslovne operacije štedionica preduzimane su u okviru usko definisanih margina, jer je bezbednost štednje bila prioritet. Ova mreža bila je nadopunjena poštanskom štedionicom, Postisäästöpannki (1887. godine). Za razliku od drugih štedionica, koje su imale većinu svojih sredstava investiranih u dugoročne kredite stanovništvu, poštanska štedionica je investirala većinu svojih sredstava u obveznice svog osnivača, u vladu Finske.

Prodor finansijskog biznisa u redove ruralne populacije podstakla je neverovatan rast zadrugarskog pokreta. Pre završetka Velikog rata, broj kreditnih unija porastao je na skoro 600. Početkom 1900-tih godina, zadruge su bile ujedinjene pod pokroviteljstvom centralne finansijske institucije, Osuuskassojen Keskuslainarahasto. Namera ove centralne zadružne banke bila je odobravanje kredita farmerima putem medijacije individualnih zadruga, gde su farmeri, korisnici potencijalnih kredita, morali da budu učlanjeni. Ovaj zadružni monetarni neksus dobio je većinu sredstava za ovu namenu od države, pošto samim zadrugama nije bilo dozvoljeno da sakupljaju štednju. Naglasak je stavljen isključivo na funkciju kreditiranja.

Međuratni period bio je duboko obeležen pokušajima finske vlasti da obnovi zlatni paritet finske marke od pre Prvog svetskog rata. Tokom čitavih 20-tih godina, oba državna igrača insistirala su na politici deflacije kako bi se povratila predratna vrednost marke

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to the founding of the Kansallis Osake Pankki, whereby buying its shares was conceived as an act of patriotism rather than a matter of rational investment. In such a nationalist atmosphere, the bank managed to collect a relatively large principal - in Finnish terms – which facilitated its entry on the market from the beginning. Until World War I, 23 banking stock companies were established. They had a network of subsidiaries whose number exceeded 100. Most of them operated in the countryside, whereas the market as a whole was dominated by the abovementioned three large banks, whose combined balance sheet totals represented up to 80 % of all assets.

The establishment of mortgage banks was also important for rural population, who was thus able to hire long-term mortgage loans. The first among such institutions began operating in 1861 and was named Suomen Hypoteekkiyhdistys. It had no competition prior to the mid 1890s, when the Oy Suomen Kaupunkien Hypoteekkikassa appeared, which had capital connections with German investors from the Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki Kauppaa ja Teollisuutta varten. However, these foreign investors saw their business opportunity in the financing of real estate business in cities and not in the countryside, due to the urbanisation taking off. In 1907, another mortgage bank, the Suomen Kiinteistöpankki Oy was created. These three banks were in control of mortgage loans business. They sought the sources for their assets by issuing bonds abroad, i.e., on foreign capital markets.

Until the First World War, the growth of the banking sector had been evident in other areas, too. In line with commercial and mortgage banks, the numbers of various local-level savings banks and credit unions increased. The network of local-level savings banks featured an impressive 443 units. Many of these were minute, especially in the rural areas. Usually, local-level authorities, municipalities, districts, etc. were behind them. Individual savings banks did not have much impact, but as a whole, they collected approximately one quarter of all Finnish savings, whereas in terms of loans, their share was one fifth, at most. Business operations of savings banks were undertaken within narrowly defined margins, as security of savings was the priority. This network was complemented by a postal savings bank, the Postisäästöpannki (1887). Different from other savings banks which had most of their assets invested in long-term loans to the population, the postal savings bank invested most of its assets in its founder’s bonds, the Finnish government.

The penetration of financial business among rural population spawned an incredible growth of the cooperative movement. Before the end of the Great War, the number of credit unions would increase to almost 600. In early 1900s, cooperatives were united under the auspices of a central financial institution, the Osuuskassojen Keskuslainarahasto. The intention of this central cooperative bank was giving out loans to farmers via the mediation of individual cooperatives farmers were obliged to be members of. This cooperative money nexus was granted most of the funds for this purpose by the state, since the cooperatives themselves were disallowed to accept savings. Emphasis was put exclusively on the credit function.

The interwar period was deeply characterised by the attempt of the Finnish government to renew the pre-WWI gold parity of the Finnish Markka. Throughout the 1920s, both state actors were insisting on the deflationary policy so as to regain the pre-war value of the Markka. Success arrived in 1926 when the gold standard was reinstated. However, this success was short-lived as Finland followed the English example of abandoning the gold standard already in 1931. Most of the Finland’s

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(Markka). Uspeh je postignut 1926. godine, kada je ponovo uveden zlatni standard. Međutim, ovaj uspeh bio je kratkog veka, jer je Finska sledila primer Engleske i napustila zlatni standard već 1931. godine. Većina finskih komercijalnih banaka imala je poteškoća u prilagođavanju mirnodopskom poslovanju, jer su bile navikle na bonancu monetarnog obilja prouzrokovanog inflacijom. Usled prošlih investicija, koje su se pokazale neopravdanim pod novim okolnostima, mnoge od tih banaka su potražile utočište pod pokroviteljstvom jedne od tri velike banke, ili su otišle u likvidaciju. Do sredine 20-tih godina, broj komercijalnih banka smanjio se na 9. Spektakularna integracija dve najveće finske banke 1919. godine bio je izuzetan događaj. Suomen Yhdys-Pankki i Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki, udružile su snage i stvorena je moćna - u finskim uslovima - Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki. Izuzev nekih manjih banaka, banke su preživele najgoru krizu iz perioda 1931-33. godina bez nekih velikih šokova. Centralnoj banci treba da se pripišu značajne zasluge za to, jer je čvrsto stajala na strani banaka tokom trajanja krize. Na bazi akumuliranih negativnih iskustava, centralna banka i vlada uvele su ograničenja komercijalnim bankama na investicije u poslovne kompanije u 1933. godini, ograničavajući ih na najviše jednu desetinu njihovog akcijskog kapitala.

Za razliku od slučaja sa komercijalnim bankama, hipotekarne banke su doživljavale stalne probleme tokom međuratnog perioda. Deprecijacija marke (Markka) pogoršala je njihovu poziciju na međunarodnom tržištu kapitala, gubitak aktive bio je ogroman, a emitovanje prethodnih obveznica moralo je da se prekine. Gubici usled razlike u deviznim kursevima bili su veliki. Vlada ih je spasla iz ovog teškog položaja tako što je obezbedila grantove za kompenzaciju gubitaka usled kursnih razlika. Vreme pre Drugog svetskog rata označilo je korak napred za štedionice. Posle 1918. godine, njihov se broj stabilizovao na 484. Interesantno je napomenuti da je to približno bio i broj bankarskih subsidijara. Izmenjena zakonska regulativa te iste godine dozvoljavala im je da šire raspon svog poslovanja. One su bile oslobođene isključivog oslanjanja na primanje depozita i osnovno kreditiranje. Sada su mogle da se okrenu

poslovanju sa čekovima i menicama. Javna kontrola i strogi zahtevi za obavljanjem samo sigurnog poslovanja, bila su dva razloga koja su tokom prve polovine 30-tih godina sačuvala štedionice od mnogih opasnosti. Uopšteno rečeno, gubici koji su nastali u tom periodu, nisu prelazili jedan procenat, mada su svakako postojale velike razlike između pojedinačnih štedionica. Zadruge su doživele čak i veći bum po završetku Prvog svetskog rata. Godine 1929. broj zadruga povećao se na 1.400. Međutim, kriza koje je usledila učinila je svoje, tako da se tokom 30-tih godina njihov broj stabilizovao na dve trećine od nivoa iz 1929. godine. Strukturna prelomna tačka za kreditne unije došla je 1920. godine, kada im je bilo dozvoljeno da sakupljaju depozite. Godine 1928. uloga zadružne monetarne centrale u alokaciji sredstava kroz mrežu zadruga, bila je dalje ojačana. Na taj način, konkurencija u smislu privlačenja klijenata među stanovništvom postala je veoma intenzivna, pošto se gusta mreža, od preko 2.000 bankarskih kancelarija, nadmetala za štednju stanovništva. To je svakako imalo uticaj na strukturu tržišta. U pogledu depozita, komercijalne banke su otišle sa udela od tri četvrtina na samo malo ispod jedne polovine, uglavnom u korist štedionica, koje su se približile 40%. Kreditne unije, međutim, još uvek su sticale iskustva u privlačenju priliva sredstava iz stanovništva. Grubo rečeno, jednaki odnos bio je prisutan i na strani bankarskih kredita.

Tokom Drugog svetskog rata i sve do 1952. godine, banke su bile podvrgnute strogoj državnoj kontroli. Njihove poslovne operacije morale su da se usmeravaju u skladu sa vladinom ratnom ili posleratnom politikom i šemom. Tokom 50-tih godina, stroga regulativa malo je popustila i finsko bankarstvo je ponovo ušlo u novi period brzog rasta. Brzi industrijski razvoj dao je novu podstrek bankarskom poslovanju. To najbolje ilustruje rast mreže subsidijara. Komercijalne banke i štedionice, utrostručile su svoje mreže: svaka od ovih dveju kategorija imala je po 1.500 subsidijara. Taj broj pratilo je još 1.300 kreditnih unija. Predratna konkurencija za privlačenje klijenata samo je eskalirala u posleratnom periodu. Međutim, takve velike cifre ukazuju i na fragmentaciju. Prema tome, ne bi trebalo da iznenađuje što

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commercial banks had difficulties adapting to peacetime operation as they had been used to the bonanza of monetary abundance caused by inflation. Because of past investments, which turned out to be unjustifiable under new circumstances, many of these banks sought refuge under the auspices of one of the three large banks or underwent liquidation. Until the mid-1920s, the number of commercial banks had decreased to 9. The spectacular 1919 merger of the two largest Finnish banks was especially resounding. Suomen Yhdys-Pankki and Pohjoismaiden Osakepankki joined forces and the mighty – in Finnish terms, that is – Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki was created. Except for the smaller ones, banks survived the worst crisis years of 1931–33 without major shocks. The central bank should be accredited significant merit for this, as it firmly stood by the banks’ side during the crisis. On the basis of accumulated negative experience, the central bank and the government imposed a limitation on commercial banks’ investments into business companies in 1933, limiting them to no more than one tenth of their joint stock.

Contrary to what was the case with commercial banks, the mortgage banks were experiencing constant problems during the interwar period. The depreciation of the Markka worsened their position on the international capital market, loss of assets was huge and issuance of previous bonds had to be discharged. Losses due to differences in currency exchange rates were also heavy. The government saved them from this difficult position, because it provided grants to compensate for losses due to exchange rate differentials. On the other hand, the time prior to World War II meant a step forward for savings banks. After 1918, their number stabilised at 484. Interestingly, this was approximately the number of bank subsidiaries. The amended legislation of that same year allowed them to expand the scope of their business. They were freed from exclusive reliance on acceptance of deposits and base lending. They could now turn to check and bill of exchange business. Public scrutiny and a strict demand for conducting only safe business were the two reasons that preserved savings banks from many perils during the first half of 1930s. In general, losses incurred

in this period did not exceed one per cent, although, of course, there were big differences among individual savings banks. Cooperatives experienced an even greater post-WWI boom. In 1929, the number of cooperatives rose to 1400. However, the subsequent crisis did its job, so, in the 1930s, their numbers stabilised at two thirds the level of 1929. A structural turning point for credit unions came in 1920 when they were allowed to collect deposits. In 1928, the role of the cooperatives’ monetary central in allocating resources throughout the cooperatives’ network was further reinforced. In this manner, competition in terms of bidding for customers among the population became very intense, as a dense network of over 2000 banking offices competed for people’s savings. This undoubtedly impacted the market structure. In terms of deposits, commercial banks went from a three-quarter share to just below one half, mainly to the benefit of savings banks, which approached 40 %. Credit unions, however, were still gathering experience in people’s assets intake. Roughly equal ratios were present on the lending side of banking business.

During World War II and until 1952, banks were subjected to a strict government control. Their business operations had to be put in line with governmental war or post-war recovery schemes. In the 1950s, strict regulation became less tight and Finnish banking was once again entering a new boom. Fast industrial development gave a new lease of life to banking business. This is most easily illustrated by the growth of the subsidiary network. Commercial and savings banks each tripled their networks, respectively: each of the two categories had 1500 subsidiaries, respectively. This number was accompanied by another 1300 credit unions. Pre-war competition for clients only escalated in the post-war period. However, such large figures also tell of a fragmentation. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that concentration through mergers was occurring. The two leading commercial banks in the post-war period that enjoyed the absolute market superiority were the Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki and the Kansallis Osakepankki. Neither did the concentration process skip the savings banks, since their number was halved. Joining of forces

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je koncentracija kroz integracije tada uzimala maha. Dve vodeće komercijalne banke u posleratnom periodu, koje su uživale apsolutnu superiornost na tržištu, bile su Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki i Kansallis Osakepankki. Ovaj proces koncentracije nije zaobišao ni štedionice, jer se njihov broj prepolovio. Udruživanje snaga obavljalo se na regionalnom nivou. Zanimljivo je napomenuti da su se i kreditne unije integrisale, tako što su se manje zadruge transformisale u subsidijare kada su se stvarale velike zadružne banke. Ni odnos u tržišnoj poziciji nije se menjao tokom posleratnog perioda. Komercijalne banke su i dalje imale dominantan udeo, ali na znatno nižem nivou (nižem od jedne trećine), u pogledu depozita i u pogledu kredita. U relativnom odnosu, štedionice su bile na gubitku, uglavnom zbog kreditnih unija, koje su uspele da dupliraju svoje tržišne udele u odnosu na predratni period. Poštanske štedionice i hipotekarne banke uspele su da povećaju svoje respektivne relativne udele na tržištu.

Početkom 80-tih godina, ni bankarstvo nije bilo pošteđeno od opšte politike deregulacije i liberalizacije. Tu su značajna tri aspekta. Trebalo je da se ojača izjednačavanje sadržaja poslovanja za sve vrste banaka, koje je započelo još u 60-tim godinama. Početkom 80-tih godina, sve prepreke za ulazak stranih banaka na finsko tržište bile su uklonjene. Tokom godina, ove banke su postale konkurencija sa kojom se moralo računati. Ukratko, posle liberalizacije tržišta, bila je ukinuta decenijama duga praksa da karteli utvrđuju kamatne stope. Princip slobodne konkurencije dobio je mnogo na važnosti. Početkom 90-tih godina, bankarstvo je počelo da zapada u duboku krizu. Štedionice su bile najteže pogođene po obimu i težini poteškoća sa kojima su se sučeljavale. Vlada je investirala preko USD 10 milijardi u rehabilitaciju bankarskog sistema. Mreža štedionica bila je bukvalno ukinuta, jer su štedionice bile masovno likvidirane ili pripojene komercijalnim bankama. Istovremeno, vlada je stimulisala "brakove" među bankama, usled rasta konkurencije. To je postiglo veliki uspeh kada su se integrisale dve najveće finske banke, sa uvaženom i poštovanom tradicijom, Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki i Kansallis Osakepankki, što je dovelo do stvaranja Merita pankki, koja se nakon toga integrisala sa švedskim, bankarskim

gigantom, Nordbanken, što je usledilo samo dve godine kasnije. Međutim, integracije se nisu na tome zaustavile. Integracija Merita Nordbanken, danske Unibank i norveške Christiania Kreditkasse 2001. godine, rezultirao je stvaranjem Nordea bank, supra-regionalne skandinavske banke. Nordea je velika i po evropskim merilima, a njene poslovne operacije koncentrisane su u Skandinaviji i u zemljama Baltika. Nadalje, usledile su i integracije između bankarstva i osiguranja. To je takođe bio način na koji je država uspela da se povuče iz bankarskog biznisa, jer se Leonia banka u državnom vlasništvu integrisala sa najvećim finskim osiguravajućim društvom, Sampo. Tokom 90-tih godina, internacionalizacija finskog bankarskog sektora bila je sveobuhvatna i podrobna. To je delimično bio rezultat sopstvene inicijative Finske, a delimično i rezultat zahteva Evropske Unije za liberalizacijom finansijskog tržišta. Mreža zadružnih banaka zadržala je specifičan finski karakter, gde je zadružni monetarni neksus bio već transformisan u bankarsko akcionarsko društvo, OKO - Osuuspankkien Keskuspankki Oy - i to još tokom 70-tih godina. Devedesete godine dvadesetog veka su bile svedoci blagog pada značaja bankarstva. Ako su prethodni periodi bili obeleženi neophodnom ulogom banaka u finansiranju poslovnih kompanija, ove su potonje kasnije počele da traže alternativne puteve za pribavljanje kapitala, prvenstveno emitovanjem akcija na berzi, ili kroz razne oblike obveznica, što je bio trend koji se nastavlja i do naših dana (Kuusterä, 1994, 1999).

Island

Vekovima dugo slabo ekonomsko stanje nije moglo da proizvede visoko razvijen bankarski sektor. Međutim, u slučaju Islanda, potrebno je odmah u početku naglasiti i preovlađujuću ulogu države, kao što je to bio slučaj u mnogim nerazvijenim zemljama. Država deluje kao faktor koji pokušava da kompenzira nedostatak ili nedovoljnost privatne inicijative i finansijskih resursa, i to ne samo u domenu bankarstva, već i u čitavoj privredi. Ideje o potrebi postojanja banaka na Islandu imaju svoju dugu istoriju. Prvi takvi predlozi davani su već krajem 1700-tih godina i nastavili se tokom prve polovine devetnaestog veka. Međutim, Danci su ostajali

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took part at the regional level. Interestingly, credit unions also underwent mergers, as smaller cooperatives were transformed into subsidiaries when larger cooperative banks were being created. Ratios between market positions did not change during the post-war period, either. Commercial banks still retained the dominant share, but at a substantially lower level (down by a third), both as regards deposits and loans. In relative terms, savings banks also lost, mainly because of credit unions, which managed to double their market shares with respect to the pre-war period. Postal savings bank and mortgage banks also managed to increase their respective relative shares of the market.

In the early 1980s, banking was not spared from general policies of deregulation and liberalisation, either. Three aspects were significant. First, equalisation of the content of business of all types of banking ever since the 1960s needs to be stressed. At the beginning of the 1980s, all obstacles to foreign banks’ entrance on the Finnish market were removed. Over the years, these banks have become competitors to reckon with. Just shortly after the liberalisation of the market, the decades-long cartel determination of interest rates was abolished as well. The principle of free competition gained a lot of importance. At the start of the 1990s, the banking, too, spiralled into a deep crisis. Especially savings banks were hard-hit as far as scope and severity of difficulties are concerned. The government invested over USD 10 billion into the rehabilitation of the banking system. Savings banks’ network was literally abolished, because savings banks were either liquidated en masse or annexed to commercial banks. At the same time, government stimulated banks’ marriages due to growing competition. The big shot succeeded when the two largest Finnish banks of venerable tradition, the Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki and the Kansallis Osakepankki merged, leading to the creation of the Merita pankki, which subsequently merged with the Swedish banking giant, the Nordbanken, which occurred only two years later. However, mergers did not stop here. In 2001, the merger of the Merita Nordbanken, the Danish Unibank and the Norwegian Christiania Kreditkasse resulted in the Nordea bank, a supra-regional Scandinavian

bank. Nordea is large on the European scale as well and its business operations are concentrated in Scandinavian and Baltic countries. Furthermore, integration of banking and insurance business also took place. This was also the manner in which the state managed to withdraw from the banking business, as the state-owned Leonia bank was merged with the largest Finnish insurance company, the Sampo. In the 1990s, internationalisation of the Finnish banking sector was comprehensive and thorough. This was in part a result of Finland’s own initiatives and in part a result of European Union’s requests for financial market liberalisation. The cooperative banking network kept a specific Finnish character, whereby the cooperative monetary nexus had already been transformed into a banking stock company, the OKO – Osuuspankkien Keskuspankki Oy – back in the 1970s. The 1990s also witnessed a slight decrease in the importance of banking. If the preceding periods had been marked with indispensable role of banks in the financing of business companies, the latter now looked for alternative paths of raising capital, primarily by issuing shares on stock markets or through various forms of bonds, a trend that has persisted to this day (Kuusterä, 1994, 1999).

Iceland

Centuries of poor economic conditions could not have resulted in a highly developed banking sector. However, in case of Iceland, one has to initially emphasise the paramount role of the state as well, as has been the case in many underdeveloped nations. The state acts as a factor which tries to compensate for a lack or insufficiency of private initiative and financial resources, not only in the domain of banking, but also in the entire economy. Ideas regarding the necessity of a bank in Iceland have a long history. First such proposals were made already at the end of the 1700s and continued throughout the first half of the 1800s. However, the Danes remained firm in their stance, ignoring Iceland’s requests, just as they did in the case of Norway. As a result, the beginnings of Icelandic banking were relatively late, although the country actually required a bank, if only for the developmental needs of

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uporni u svom stavu i ignorisali zahteve Islanda, baš kao što su to činili i u slučaju Norveške. Kao rezultat toga, početak islandskog bankarstva nastao je relativno kasno, mada je zemlji zbilja bila potrebna banka, ako ništa drugo, ono za razvoj ribarstva i poljoprivrede, što bi podržalo investicije u ova dva najvažnija sektora na organizovaniji način. Štedionice su bile prve koje su se razvile, a prva od njih bila je osnovana u Rejkjaviku, 1872. godine, dok je druga bila osnovana godinu dana kasnije, u Siglufjörduru. Nesumjivo su obe ove institucije bile korisne, ali ih je njihov mali obim sprečavao da ostvaruju bilo kakav značajniji uticaj. Mnogo važnija bila je komercijalna banka Landsbanki Islands u državnom vlasništvu, osnovana 1885. godine. Njeno osnivanje je zahtevalo usvajanje sopstvene valute Islanda, krune (Krona), koja je bila ekvivalent danskoj kruni. U početku, krunu je emitovao trezor administrativne uprave Islanda. Iako u početku nije bilo dovoljno domaćih kruna da se zadovolji tražnja, dugoročno gledano, ova valuta je na kraju u potpunosti zamenila sve druge valute, uključujući i dansku krunu. Početkom 20. veka, Islanđani su dobili svoje prvo bankarsko akcionarsko društvo, Islandsbanki (1904. godine), koje je imalo sedište u glavnom gradu Danske, a za razliku od Landsbanki, bilo je u potpunosti u privatnom vlasništvu. Tokom jednog kraćeg perioda, ovoj je banci bilo dozvoljeno pravo da emituje novac. Obe su ove banke izuzetno doprinele konsolidaciji, modernizaciji i ekspanziji ribarstva. Tokom prve dve decenije, Islandsbanki bila je neuporedivo jača i preduzimljivija od Landsbanki. Međutim, tokom 1920-tih godina, situacija se preokrenula u korist bankarske institucije u državnom vlasništvu, koja je postigla toliko mnogo prednosti da Islansbanki nije bila u stanju da drži korak sa njom. Prednost Landsbanki porasla je po donošenju nove bankarske zakonske regulative, usvojene 1927/28. godine, jer je dobila monopol za emitovanje novca. Od tada pa nadalje, poslovanje Landsbanki objedinjavalo je dve funkcije, komercijalnu i funkciju centralne banke, mada je ova druga bila još u neizvesnoj fazi, jer je raspon njenih kompetencija, izvan emitovanja valute, bio relativno skroman. Tokom naredne tri decenije, organizacija banke imala je tri dimenzije: odeljenje za depozite,

odeljenje za hipotekarne kredite i odeljenje centralnog bankarstva. Nezavisna centralna banka, Seđlabanki Islands, osnovana je 1961. godine, između ostalog, da pruža podršku vladinoj politici. Što se tiče Landesbanki, ona je nastavila da posluje kao čisto komercijalna banka u državnom vlasništvu.

Za bankarstvo Islanda tridesete godine dvadesetog veka bile su naročito važne. Kriza je pogodila Island sa znatnim nedostatkom sredstava za kreditiranje. Poljoprivreda i ribarstvo bili su posebno teško pogođeni. Zato je vlada osnovala specijalnu poljoprivrednu banku, Búnadarbanki Islands, da bi olakšala farmerima pristup jefinim, dugoročnim kreditima. Ova šema bila je delimično nastavljena i u slučaju ribarstva, ribljih prerađevina i trgovine. Da bi se obezbedili krediti za ove privredne aktivnosti, osnovano je novo bankarsko akcionarsko društvo, Útvegsbanki i Islands, gde je dominantni vlasnik bila država - sve do njegove potpune nacionalizacije 60-tih godina. Ova je banka nadopunjavala funkciju državnog fonda za finansiranje velikih, dugoročnih investicija u ribarstvo, koji je bio osnovan 1905. godine. Sredinom 30-tih godina, vlada je osnovala sličan fond i za industrijsko poslovanje.

Intenzivniji period osnivanja banaka usledio je posle Drugog svetskog rata. Do tada, Island je uspeo da unapredi svoju ekonomiju do tog stepena da vodeća uloga države više nije bila potrebna kao ranije. Pojavili su se novi i različiti inicijatori bankarskog biznisa. Država je dobila kompanije u obliku privatnog poslovnog/preduzetništva, sindikata i zadružnih članova. Zaživeo je funkcionalan,

Rejkjavik, Island Reykjavik, Iceland

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fisheries and agriculture, which would support investments into the two most important sectors in a more organised manner. Savings banks were the first to develop; the very first one was established in Reykjavik, in 1872 and the second one was established a year later, in Siglufjördur. Undoubtedly, both institutions were beneficial, yet their small size prevented them from exerting any significant influence. Much more important was the state-owned commercial bank, founded in 1885, the Landsbanki Islands. Its establishment also entailed the adoption of Iceland’s own currency, the Krona, which was equivalent to the Danish Krone. In the beginning, Kroner were issued by the treasury of Iceland’s administration. Although, initially, there were not enough domestic Kroner so as to meet the demand, in the long term, this currency eventually completely displaced others, including the Danish Krone. In the early 20th century, Icelanders got their first banking stock company, the Islandsbanki (1904), which was based on Danish capital and, contrary to the Landsbanki, entirely privately owned. For a short period, this bank was also granted the right to issuing money. Both banks contributed tremendously towards the consolidation, modernisation and expansion of fisheries. For the first two decades, the Islandsbanki was incomparably stronger and more penetrative than the Landsbanki. However, in the 1920s, the tides turned in favour of the state-owned banking institution, which gained so much advantage that the Islandsbanki was unable to catch up with it. Landsbanki’s lead increased after the new banking legislation had been

adopted in the years 1927/28, as it gained a monopoly in terms of issuing money. Henceforth, Landsbanki’s operation united two functions, the commercial and that of a central bank, albeit the latter was still in a fledgling state, because the scope of competences beyond the issuing of currency was relatively modest. Over the following three decades, the bank’s organisation had three divisions: the deposit division, the mortgage division and the central banking division. Independent central bank, the Seđlabanki Islands, was founded in 1961, which was, inter alia, intended to support government policies. As for Landsbanki, it continued its business as a purely commercial, state-owned bank.

1930s were especially important for banking in Iceland. Crisis hit Iceland as well, with substantial shortage of credit funds. Agriculture and fisheries were hit especially hard. Therefore, the government established a special agricultural bank, the Búnadarbanki Islands, in order to facilitate farmers’ access to cheap long-term loans. This pattern was in part perpetuated in cases of fishing, fish processing and trade. In order to provide loans for these economic activities, a new banking stock company was established, the Útvegsbanki Islands, of which the dominant owner was the state – until its complete nationalisation in the 1960s. This bank complemented the function of the governmental fund for financing large-scale, long-term investments in fisheries, established back in 1905. In the mid 1930s, the government established a similar fund for industrial business as well.

A more intensive period of establishing banks came after the WW II. By then, Iceland had managed to bolster its economy to a degree at which state’s leading role was not as necessary as before. New and different initiators of banking business surfaced. The state got company in the form of private businessmen/entrepreneurs, trade unions and members of cooperatives. A functionally complete and multifarious banking system emerged. In the post-war period, the state first created a developmental bank, the Framkvaemdabanki Islands. This was followed by banking stock companies: an industrial (the Idnadarbanki Islands, 1953) and a commercial (the Verzlunarbanki Islands,

Rejkjavik, Island Reykjavik, Iceland

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kompletan i višesvojni bankarski sistem. U posleratnom periodu, država je prvo formirala razvojnu banku, Framkvaemdabanki Islands. Potom su usledila bankarska akcionarska društva: jedno industrijsko (Idnadarbanki Islands, 1953.) i komercijalno (Verzlunarbanki Islands, 1961.). Zadružni pokret se takođe pridružio konkurenciji, osnivajući svoju sopstvenu zadružnu banku (Sumvinnubankinn, 1963.). Njima se početkom 1970-tih godina pridružila ujedinjena banka (Albydubankinn), takođe poznata pod imenom narodna banka, jer su njeni dominantni vlasnici bili islandski sindikati. Mreža štedionica na lokalnom nivou upotpunjavala je asortiman akcionarskih društava (33) i kreditnih odeljenja zadruga (57), koje su pokrivale unutrašnjost zemlje.

Bankarstvo je delilo sudbinu sa islandskom privredom. Stoga je bilo teško pogođeno ogromnim padom cena ribe i druge morske hrane pred kraj 60-tih godina i početkom 70-tih godina. Međutim, ni decenija inflacije nije bilo ništa bolja, kada su loše investicije, potaknute negativnim kamatnim stopama, postale učestale tokom tog perioda. Stvari su se ipak sredile 80-tih godina, uvođenjem indeksacije i nove krune (Krona), dva elementa jedne ekstenzivne anti-inflatorne državne šeme. Počela je era veće stabilnosti.

Međutim, prava prelomna tačka za bankarstvo dogodila se sa nastavkom reformi koje su omogućile raskid sa ekonomskim razvojnim modelom na snazi do tog vremena. Sredinom 80-tih godina, vlada je započela sa ekstenzivnim procesima deregulacije i liberalizacije islandske privrede. Država je postepeno počela da napušta svoju aktivnu ulogu u ekonomiji i nove parole toga vremena uvodile su privatizaciju, liberalizaciju i konkurenciju. Bankarstvo nije bilo izuzetak u tom pogledu. Nova bankarska zakonska reuglativa bila je usmerena na stimulisanje konkurencije. Banke više neće biti potpuno subordinirane centralnoj banci i bila im je ostavljena sloboda da formulišu svoje sopstvene poslovne politike i autonomno određuju kamatne stope. Pored toga, vlada, delujući u skladu sa tada preovlađujućim trendovima liberalizacije finansijskih usluga, otvorila je domaće bankarsko tržište i izložila ga stranoj konkurenciji. Kako se država povlačila iz svoje zaštitničke uloge i sa oslanjanjem na

konkurenciju, ideje koje su stupile u prvi plan bile su u vezi sa privatizacijom i koncentracijom bankarskog biznisa, kako bi se islandske banke pripremile za novi, značajno izmenjeni ambijent visoke konkurencije. Istovremeno, banke su morale da modernizuju i proširuju svoj raspon repertoara usluga tamo gde su zaostajale za nivoom bankarskog razvoja i trendova u drugim zemljama.

S obzirom na udeo banaka u državnom vlasništvu, bilo je mnogo posla da se obavi na području privatizacije. Međutim, potrebno je naglasiti da je konsensus među političkom i ekonomskom elitom u odnosu na reforme, kao i na privatizaciju, bio nesporan. Sve je započelo januara 1990. godine, kada su se uglavnom privatne banke (za ribarstvo, industrijsko poslovanje, komercijalne i ujedinjene banke) integrisale pod voćstvom Islandsbanki. To je dovelo do stvaranja jedne velike (za prilike Islanda) i obnovljene Islandsbanki. Međutim, tek je trebalo da usledi još veća integracija. Te iste godine, Landsbanki je pripojila zadružnu banku. Sledeći veliki korak bila je privatizacija. U slučaju Islandsbanki, privatni kapital bio je predominantan, dok su stvari drugačije stajale u slučaju Landsbanki. Njena je privatizacija počela 1997. godine. Država je postepeno smanjivala svoj vlasnički udeo i bankarstvo Islanda krenulo je putem internacionalizacije (Palmason, 1994).

Zaključak

U pogledu svojih razvojnih karakteristika, skandinavsko bankarstvo pokazuje dva lica. S jedne strane ovog diptiha su Švedska i Danska, a ostale tri zemlje, tj. Norveška, Finska i Island, su sa one druge strane. Pored svoje geografske lokacije, one dele jednu zajedničku odliku, činjenicu da je izvozni sektor bio motor njihove društvene i ekonomske modernizacije. Kao posledica toga, oblast Skandinavije pridružila se širim evropskim ekonomskim i modernizacionim tendencijama relativno rano. Brzina sa kojom su započinjali procesi moderniziacije se manifestovala u formiranju institucija finansijske intermedijacije, čiji se razvoj zasnivao na rastu privreda sa napretkom industrijalizacije i na visoko-školovanom stanovništvu, koje je znalo kako da efikasno

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1961) one. The cooperative movement also joined the competition, establishing its own cooperative bank (the Sumvinnubankinn, 1963). In the early 1970s, a united bank joined the ranks (the Albydubankinn), also known as the people’s bank, because its dominant owners were Iceland’s trade unions. A network of local-level savings banks complemented the assortment of stock companies (33) and credit divisions of cooperatives (57), which covered the countryside.

Banking shared the fate of Iceland’s economy. Hence, it was severely affected by a huge decline in the prices of fish and other sea food towards the end of the 1960s and in the early 1970s. However, the decade of inflation was no better, either, as bad investments, which had been stimulated by negative interest rates, were not uncommon during that period. With the advent of the 1980s, the introduction of indexation and the new Krona, two elements of an extensive anti-inflation government scheme, the matters nevertheless got sorted out. An era of greater stability began.

However, a true turning point for banking occurred with the continuation of reforms which entailed a rupture with the economic development model up to that time. In the mid-1980s, the government triggered extensive processes of deregulation and liberalisation of Iceland’s economy. The state gradually began abandoning its active role in economy and the new paroles of the time were introducing privatisation, liberalisation and competitiveness. Banking was no exception in this regard. New banking legislation was aimed at stimulating competition. The banks would no longer be completely subordinated to the central bank and were left free to formulate their own policies and autonomously determine interest rates. In addition, the government, acting in line with the then prevalent trends of liberalisation of financial services, opened up the domestic banking market, exposing it to foreign competition. With the state phasing out its protective role and with reliance on competition, ideas regarding privatisation and concentration of banking business so as to prepare Iceland’s banks for a new, significantly more competitive environment came to the forefront. At the same time, the banks also

had to modernise and expand their repertoire array of services wherever they lagged behind the state of banking development and trends in other countries.

Considering the share of state-owned banks, there was a lot of work in the field of privatisation to be done. However, it is necessary to emphasise that the consensus among political and economic elites as to the reforms, as well as privatisation, was indisputable. It began in January 1990, when mostly private banks (fisheries, industrial, commercial and united ones) merged under the leadership of the Islandsbanki. This resulted in the creation of the large (in Icelandic terms) and renewed Islandsbanki. However, more mergers would follow. In that same year, the Landsbanki annexed the cooperative bank. Next big step was the privatisation. In the Islandsbanki case, private capital was predominant, whereas things were different for the Landsbanki. Its privatisation commenced in 1997. The state was gradually decreasing its ownership share and Iceland’s banking ventured on a path of internationalisation (Palmason, 1994).

Conclusion

In terms of its evolutionary characteristics, Scandinavian banking shows two images. On the one side of this diptych are Sweden and Denmark and the three remaining countries, i.e., Norway, Finland and Iceland are on the other. Apart from their geographical location, they share one common trait, a fact that the export sector was the motor of their social and economic modernisation. As a consequence, the Scandinavian area joined the wider European economic and modernisation tendencies relatively early in time. The speed at which modernisation processes were being entered into also manifested itself in the formulation of institutions of financial intermediation, whose development benefited from a growing economy of advancing industrialisation, as well as from well-educated populations, which knew how to efficiently use the services offered by the banking sector. Dense networks of various types of banking institutions were created as early as late 1800s (stock companies, savings banks, credit unions), assuring the catchment

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koristi usluge bankarskog sektora. Gusta mreža raznih vrsta bankarskih institucija bila je stvorena već krajem 1800-tih godina (akcionarska društva, štedionice, kreditne unije), obezbeđujući zahvatanje štednje stanovništva i njenu alokaciju u investicije. Od početne faze velike fragmentacije nastala je tipično bipolarna struktura u procesu konsolidacije i koncentracije bankarskog sektora, gde je predominantni udeo na bankarskom tržištu bio pod kontrolom samo nekoliko bankarskih kompanija, koje su poslovale po čitavim teritorijama ovih država. Raznovrsnost bankarskih i drugih finansijskih institucija stvarala je konkurentan ambijent, sprečavajući nastajanje apsolutne dominacije na tržištu. Osnivanje bankarskog sistema u Švedskoj i Danskoj prevazišlo je svojom brzinom razvoj u Norveškoj i Finskoj, da i ne pominjemo Island. Privatne komercijalne banke imale su superiornu ulogu na bankarskom tržištu Švedske, Danske i delimično Finske. Uloga države u domenu bankarstva bila je nezamenljiva sve vreme do početka deregulacije, pred kraj 20. veka. Zanimljivo je napomenuti

da je postojala vidljiva linija postepenog rasta regulative u bankarskom sektoru, već od kraja 19. veka. Još jedna karakteristika Skandinavije bila je relativno brza i prudentna intervencija države u vreme ekonomskih, finansijskih i kriza solventnosti, sa ciljem da se očuva operativnost bankarskog sektora. U tom pogledu, period koji je usledio posle Drugog svetskog rata je važan, jer su sve skandinavske zemlje, delujući pod utiskom iskustva koje su imale tokom Velike ekonomske depresije, odlučile da podvrgnu svoje bankarske sektore strogoj državnoj kontroli i da im povere ulogu ciljane podrške državnoj ekonomskoj politici, kroz bankarske institucije u državnom vlasništvu i osnivanjem namenskih finansijskih fondova sa ciljem da obezbede sredstva za određene industrijske sektore. Ulazak u deregulaciju i internacionalizaciju bankarskog sektora, krajem 20. veka, bio je sinhronizovan. Pored toga, deregulacija obeležava jednu važnu prekretnicu, jer je na taj način stvoren jedinstven bankarski prostor Skandinavije, koji je dobio svoje otelotvorenje u stvaranju Nordea banke.

Literatura / References

1. A history of banking in leading nations, Vol. 4, The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, 1896, New York.

2. Commercial banks 1925 - 1933, League of Nations, Economic Inteligence Service, Geneva, 1934.

3. Johansen Hans Christian, Danish banking history, in Pohl Manfred - Freitag Sabine, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main, European Association for Banking History, 1994, pp. 97-137.

4. Jonung Lars, The Swedish model for resolving the banking crisis of 1991-1993. Seven reasons why it was successful. Economic papers 360/February 2009, European Commission, 2009, (http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications)

5. Kuusterä Antti, "Niche of Cooperative Banking in Finland during the first half of

the Twentieth Century", Liiketaloudellinen Aikakauskirja - LTA - The Finnish Journal of Business Economics, Vol. 4, 1999 - Special issue - Role of Cooperative Entrepreneurship in Modern Market Environment, pp. 438-448.

6. Kuusterä Antti, The Finnish banking system in broad outline from 1860s to mid-1980s, in Pohl Manfred - Freitag Sabine, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main, European Assosiation for Banking History, 1994, pp.135-147.

7. Lange Even, The Norwegian system of banking institutions, in Pohl Manfred - Freitag Sabine, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main, European Association for Banking History, 1994, pp. 791-818.

8. Märcher Michael, "Danish Banking Before and After the Napoleonic Wars: A survey of Danish banking, 1736-1857", in Talvio

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of people’s savings and their allocation to investments. From the initial state of great fragmentation, a typical bipolar structure emerged in the process of consolidation and concentration of the banking sector, in which the predominant share of banking market was controlled by only a few banking companies, operating in the entire territories of these states. A diversity of banking and other financial institutions created a competitive environment, precluding the emergence of absolute dominance on the market. The creation of Swedish and Danish banking system outpaced the developments in Norway and Finland, not to mention Iceland. Private commercial banks had the superior role on the banking market of Sweden, Denmark and partly in Finland. Elsewhere, the role of state in the domain of banking had been irreplaceable all the way until the beginnings of deregulation towards the end of the 20th century. Interestingly, a clearly visible line of gradual increase in the regulation of banking sector can be traced as far back as the turn of the 19th century. Also

characteristic of Scandinavia are relatively fast and prudent state interventions in times of economic, financial and solvency crises, aimed at keeping the operability of the banking sector uncompromised. In this regard, the period following World War II is important because all Scandinavian states, acting under the impression of experience gained in the Great Economic Depression, decided to subject their banking sectors to a strict governmental control and entrust them with the role of targeted support of states’ economic policies, both by the virtue of state-owned banking institutions and establishing purpose-made financial funds intended to provide resources for certain industrial sectors. The entry into deregulation and internationalisation of the banking sector at the end of the 20th century was synchronous as well. In addition, the deregulation marks an important milestone, as a single Scandinavian banking space was created in this manner so to speak, which is embodied in the creation of the Nordea bank.

Tukka - van Heijne Cecilia (ed.), Monetary Boundaries in Transition, A North European Economic History and the Finnish War 1808-1809, Stockholm, 2010, pp. 127-143.

9. Nordvik Helge W., Norwegian Banking in the Inter-war Period: A Scandinavian perspective, in Feinstein Charles H., Banking, Currency, and Finance in Europe Between the Wars, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 434-457.

10. Ögren Anders, Financial Revolution and Economic Modernization in Sweden. Stockholms School of Economics, Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance, no. 650, 2007, (http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0650.htm)

11. Olsson Ulf, Swedish commercial banking over 150 years, in Pohl Manfred - Freitag Sabine, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main,

European Association for Banking History, 1994, pp. 963-1012.

12. Palmason Olafur, Banks in Iceland, in Pohl Manfred - Freitag Sabine, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main, European Association for Banking History, 1994, pp. 533-536.

13. Sandberg Lars G, "Banking and Economic Growth in Sweden before World War I", The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Sep., 1978), pp. 650-680.

14. Vale Bent, The Norwegian banking crisis, in Moe Thorvald G., Solheim Jan A., Vale Bent, The Norwegian Banking Crisis, Norges Bank Skriftserie/Occasional Papers, No. 33, Oslo, 2004, pp. 1-21.