As of February 20th 2009, New Glitnir becomes Íslandsbanki. The change in name was formally announced at a press conference today at the bank's headquarters at Kirkjusandur.  The proposed change of name was first introduced in December last year.

 

The name Íslandsbanki dates back to1904, when the first Íslandsbanki was founded, to provide financing especially for the fisheries sector and the country's emerging industries. It operateduntil 1930, when its activities were taken over by Útvegsbanki, theFisheries Bank of Iceland. 60 years later, three smaller banks, Iðnaðarbanki Íslands(the Industrial Bank of Iceland), Verzlunarbanki Íslands (the Iceland Bank of Commerce) and Alþýðubankinn (the Union Bank) were merged with Útvegsbanki to form a new Íslandsbanki, which later became Glitnir. Now the name Íslandsbanki will be adopted once more to replace Glitnir after the collapse of the financial system.

 

The decision to revive the name Íslandsbanki was prompted in part by suggestions made by a large number of the bank's customers in recent months. Íslandsbanki is avaluable and well-known trademark. The name has a long tradition behind it and reflects the bank's new strategy emphasising primarily its home environment and serving Icelandic companies and families.

 

 

A new Íslandsbanki logo has also been introduced, combining elements of the previous logos of both Íslandsbanki and Glitnir. The red colour is still there, while the form clearly echoes the former Íslandsbanki logo.

To go to Islandsbanki´s website, click here.