Svenska Handelsbanken

one of the largest commercial banks in Sweden. In the mid-1970’s the Svenska Handels-banken was the second largest Swedish private joint-stock bank in terms of total assets. It was founded in 1871 as the Stock-holms Handelsbank, with share capital of 1 million kronas. It received its present name in 1919.

Since its inception, the Svenska Handelsbanken has absorbed several small and medium-sized banks. In 1973 it granted approximately 50 percent of its credits to enterprises in various branches of industry and foreign and domestic trade and large credits to housing construction. It participates in various multinational consortium banks, such as the Nordic Bank (London), Nordfinanz-Bank (Zurich), and Manufacturers-Hanover Bank Nordique (Paris). It has 495 branches in Sweden and seven representative offices abroad, including one in Moscow. At the end of 1974 the Svenska Handelsbanken had assets of 29.7 billion kronas, deposits of 19.8 billion kronas, loans of 15.2 billion kronas, and total capital, including reserves, of 900 million kronas.