Expobank CZ a.s. is a Czech bank, founded in 1991. It is a nationwide bank for corporate and individual clients. The Bank focuses primarily on international corporate banking and cooperation within the Expobank Group. Since 2014, the Russian entrepreneur Igor Kim has been the majority shareholder and owner.
History
The original bank was established in 1991 as a Swiss-Hungarian joint venture under the name InterBank, akciová společnost and obtained a banking license on 28.12.1991; the current valid license was received under the name Interbanka, akciová společnost on 13. 2. 2004 and was supplemented on 6.5.2005. Between 1993 and 1997 a number of changes in the shareholder structure took place; this transition period stabilized at the end of 1997, when the German Bayerische Landesbank became the majority shareholder and the Hungarian Magyar Kulkereskedelmi Bank and the Austrian Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG became minority shareholders. In September 2003, BAWAG became the sole shareholder of Interbank a.s. and in June 2004 the bank was renamed BAWAG Bank CZ a.s. In September 2004, BAWAG acquired 100% of the shares of another bank on the Czech market - Dresdner Bank CZ a.s. Dresdner Bank CZ a.s. was founded in 1991 as a joint venture of the French Banque National de Paris and the German Dresdner Bank AG, and under the original name BNP-Dresdner Bank a.s. obtained a banking license on 3.9.1991. In 2001 Dresdner Bank AG became the sole shareholder of the bank, which was given a new license under the name Dresdner Bank CZ a.s. on 4.11.2003. After BAWAG became the sole shareholder, Dresdner Bank CZ a.s. was renamed BAWAG International Bank CZ a.s. and ceased to exist on 31 March 2005 as a result of the merger with BAWAG Bank CZ a.s. as a successor bank. In September 2008, another change occurred when German Landesbank Baden-Württemberg became the sole shareholder and BAWAG Bank CZ a.s. was renamed LBBW Bank CZ a.s. as part of the LBBW Group. The parent LBBW is both a commercial bank and a central bank of local savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate and is one of the largest banks in Germany. In January 2014, LBBW agreed to sell LBBW Bank CZ to the Russian bank Expobank owned by the entrepreneur Igor Kim. At the end of November 2014, the branch network has been reduced. Since the end of 2014, Igor Kim has been the majority owner of the Czech bank. On 15. 10. 2014 the business name of the bank was changed to Expobank CZ a.s. In March 2016, Expobank CZ a.s. repurchased EAST Portfolio, s.r.o. in which it acquired a 100% stake from the German LBBW. In March 2017 Expobank CZ a.s. was the first Czech bank to enter the Serbian market, where it became the sole shareholder of Marfin Bank a.d. Beograd. Marfin Bank subsequently changed its business name to Expobank Beograd. In October 2018, Expobank announced the opening of its Cryptocurrency trading and investing services. Since April 2019, Expobank CZ has been based in the Trimaran building, on Na strži street in Prague's Pankrác district. In August 2019, a branch that had been located on Wenceslas Square in Prague moved to the neighboring City Element building in Prague's Pankrác.
