Who we are
Who we are
Bank History
The Upi Banka was established in 1972 as an internal bank of the corporate system of theUdružena poljoprivreda, prehrambena industrija i promet (Associated Agriculture and Food Industries and Sales), aimed at supporting the operations of these sectors, which at the time employed more than 35,000 workers. Upon the same principle, internal banks were also organized in other sectors, and the UPI Banka was among the strongest.
Since 1990, a new phase came in the development of the Upi Banka, when it was registered as a shareholding company and it was in a majority state ownership (92 per cent). The Bank started with expansion of the network of corporate clients, focusing on the sector of small and medium entrepreneurship.
During the 1992-1996 war in BH, the Upi Banka maintained its operations even under difficult conditions.
As early as in 2000, through the emission of shares, the Bank was fully transferred into the hands of private capital, even before the law on privatization came into effect. The Upi Banka was among the first in BiH to obtain the certificate from the Deposit Insurance Agency.
Further increase of capital and development of the Bank were significantly boosted through obtaining of the credit line from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and since 2003, this financial institution also became one of the major shareholders of the UPI Banka.
For the five successive years, the Upi Banka paid dividend to its shareholders, and after the entry of the EBRD into the ownership structure, the profit was directed into capital strengthening.
The Upi Banka has joined the SWIFT since 1997, and has been a member of the WESTERN UNION network since 2002.
The major corporate event in 2005, opening up a new stage in development of the Bank, was the change of its ownership structure and involvement of the strategic partner, Banca Intesa (Italy), as the majority shareholder.
In early 2005, activities were undertaken for selection of the strategic partner of the Bank, and invitations were sent out to the potential investors for submission of bids for acquisition of the majority package of equity shares. This initiative was responded by six banking houses. In the second round of selection, the representatives of four banking institutions conducted the due diligence of the UPI Banka, following which bids were submitted.
The consortium of the largest shareholders of the UPI Banka selected the bid from Banca Intesa as the most favorable one and the procedure was undertaken to obtain the required approvals from the Banking Agency of FBH and the Central Bank of Italy, on December 12, 2005, the sales transaction was announced at the Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE), and the Banca Intesa became the owner of 35.03% of the shares of the Upi Banka. In block transactions, Sarajevska pivara d.d. Sarajevo, Klas d.d. Sarajevo, Bosna Re d.d. Sarajevo, and Coning d.d. Varazdin (Croatia) sold their equity shares to the Banca Intesa.
The general shareholder meetings of the Upi Banka d.d. Sarajevo and the LT Gospodarska Banka d.d. Sarajevo, held on June 18, 2007, passed the final Decision on Merger of the LTG Bank to the Upi Banka as of July 31, 2007. The new integral Bank continued operating under the name of the Upi Banka.
The procedure for merger of the LTG Banka to the Upi Banka was initiated by the members of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, the Privredna Banka Zagreb d.d. (PBZ), as the majority owner of the LTG Banka, with 66.99% voting rights, and by the Intesa Holding International Luxembourg (IHI), as the majority owner of the Upi Banka, with 81.18% voting rights.
After the merger, according to the proposed swap proportion in the ownership structure of the new Upi Banka, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group became the owner of a total of 77.17% regular shares of the UPI Banka carrying voting rights (of which 58.22% for IHI, and 18.95% for PBZ), whereas the rest of the 7.17% remained in the ownership of the EBRD, and 15.66% in the ownership of small shareholders.
During the year of 2011, Intesa Sanpaolo Group acquired additional shares, including the ownership of EBRD, and became the owner of 94,92 % of total shares of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank d.d. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina is a member of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, one of the leading banking groups in Europe. The Intesa Sanpaolo Group operates in 13 countries via its subsidiaries in the Central and Eastern Europe region, and has 1,800 branches and 8,6 million clients.
Intesa Sanpaolo Banka Bosna i Hercegovina is a commercial bank of the universal type, fully licensed for all types of banking transactions in domestic and foreign currencies. The range of services is focused both on corporate and retail banking.
Today, the Bank has 46 agencies and 5 regional corporate centers, as well as a network of ATMs and POS machines, and it operates on the whole territory of BiH, in the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska, and Brcko District. The Bank is well-positioned in all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The long-term commitment of the Intesa Sanpaolo Banka Bosna i Hercegovina is to maintain the high quality of its services in order to retain the existing clients and to work with them on continuous increase in the scope of cooperation, and to offer new and potential clients such services that they can not receive at other banks.
The fulfillment of this goal will require additional capitalization, securing of long-term credit lines under favorable terms, expansion of the corporate network, and provision of attractive products. An enhanced technical level, increase in the number of employees, and their training, are all objectives that need to bring about strengthening of the Bank, and offer of better quality and more favorable services to clients, thus allowing for conquering of a larger market share in BH.