Northern Bank (Ireland) Limited

Danske Bank A/S

Type	Publicly traded Aktieselskab (Nasdaq Copenhagen: DANSKE)
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1871
Headquarters	Copenhagen, Denmark
Key people	Ole Andersen (Chairman), Thomas F. Borgen (CEO)
Products	Banking, insurance, investment management
Revenue	DKK 43.866 billion (2014)
Profit	DKK 3.846 billion (2014)
Total assets	DKK 3453.0 billion (end 2014)
Total equity	DKK 147.4 billion (end 2014)
Number of employees	18,478 (FTE, end 2014)
Website	danskebank.com

Danske Bank is a Danish bank whose name also literally translates into "Danish Bank". It was founded 5 October 1871 as Den Danske Landmandsbank, Hypothek- og Vexelbank i Kjøbenhavn (The Danish Farmers' Bank, Mortgage and Exchange Bank of Copenhagen). Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail customers. Danske Bank was number 454 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011.

The Danske Bank group operates a number of local banks around the Nordic Region as well as across Ireland.

The Danske Bank branches in Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) began operating in 2008 after Finnish Sampo Bank was acquired by Danske Bank Group in 2007 for €4.05 billion.

Danske Bank, formerly Sampo Bank, is Danske Bank's Finnish operations. Sampo Bank was acquired by the Danske Bank Group in 2007. Sampo Bank traces its origins back to 1887, Originally the Finnish state-owned Post and Savings Bank, which accepted deposits from the public at its post offices. In 1999, the state-owned bank was merged with Sampo PLC's insurance business to form the Sampo Group. The banking unit was later acquired by Danske Bank in 2007, while the Sampo Group retained the insurance business.

Danske Bank's Northern Irish subsidiary was founded as the Northern Banking Partnership in Belfast in 1809. It became Northern Bank in 1970, after merging with the Belfast Banking Company. Northern Bank was one of the Big Four banks in Ireland. Danske Bank (Mark Robinson) bought the bank from National Australia Bank in December 2004, and Northern Bank continued to operate under its own name until it took on the name of its parent company as its trading name in November 2012. The bank is considered one of the leading retail banks in Northern Ireland with 82 branches and four finance centres. Danske Bank is one of the four commercial banks in Northern Ireland which are permitted to issue their own banknotes.