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Bank Pekao S.A.

Bank Pekao headquarters on Żubra Street, Warsaw
Company type	Joint-stock company (spółka akcyjna)
Traded as	WSE: PEO WIG30 component
ISIN	PLPEKAO00016
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	17 March 1929; 95 years ago (1929-03-17)
Founder	Ministry of Treasury
Headquarters	Warsaw, Poland
Key people	Leszek Skiba, CEO
Products	Financial services
Net income	$563.1 million (2022)
Total assets	$79.6 billion (2024)
Number of employees	13,497 (2021)
Website	www.pekao.com.pl

Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spółka Akcyjna, commonly using the shorter name Bank Pekao S.A., is a universal bank and currently the second largest bank in Poland with its headquarters in Warsaw. The Italian bank UniCredit used to own 59% of the company. It sold the bank in December 2016. Now Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń owns 20% of the company, Polish Development Fund 12.80%, UniCredit 6.28% and others 60.94%.

The bank was founded in 1929 by the Ministry of Treasury as a national bank, mainly to provide financial services to Poles living abroad. In 1939 the bank had branches in virtually every capital city of countries where Poles lived.

The full name "Polska Kasa Opieki" may be translated literally as "Polish Bank of Aid", and the popular form "Pekao" sounds out the acronym "PKO".

History

Formative years

In 1929, the CEO of Pocztowa Kasa Oszczędności, Henryk Gruber, observed that there was a demand for a bank that could provide financial services to the eight million Poles living outside the country. Starting from these assumptions, on 17 March 1929, the Ministry of Finance established Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spółka Akcyjna. On 29 October of the same year, the Warsaw District Court entered Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA in the commercial register. The company's shareholders were Pocztowa Kasa Oszczędności, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and Państwowy Bank Rolny. The first branches were opened in France, Argentina, and the United States, and in Tel Aviv (now Israel). By 1939 Pekao had branches in the capitals of most countries where Polish emigres had settled.

People's Republic of Poland

After the end of World War II and the beginning of the Soviet domination in Poland, the bank took care of international financial operations conducted by the authorities of the newly established Polish People's Republic. With the bank's help, the Poles who live abroad could support their families behind the Iron Curtain. In 1968, the Minister of Finance authorized the establishment of foreign currency accounts for persons working abroad in Bank Pekao. Monopoly on their conduct Pekao lost only in 1989 with the onset of economic reforms that swept in Poland and the communist bloc.

In the 1970s, currency accounts in Pekao were divided into three categories: Account A for people paying currencies with documented origin, B accounts for payments with undocumented origin, and C accounts for foreigners. The funds from B accounts could not be legally exported abroad, but in 1976 the rights of A and B accounts were leveled. In 1974, the bank had around 91,000 registered accounts. At the end of the 1980s, the total value of foreign currency accounts was US$3.3 billion.

Much earlier, in 1960, the bank began issuing its own vouchers, "Bon Towarowy PeKaO", denominated in US dollars. Initially, for these vouchers (as well as directly for convertible currencies deposited in domestic and foreign bank representations) it was possible to buy both foreign and deficit domestic goods in the foreign sales network operated directly by Bank Pekao. The offer of the bank for individual clients included a variety of goods covering, among others, groceries (including "Krakus" ham and western chewing gum), alcohol, cosmetics, textiles, household appliances, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, tractors, agricultural machinery, fuel, building materials, installation and sanitary equipment, and also apartments and furniture. This retail network was created with the establishment of the Pewex "internal export" company, in 1972 out of the bank's structures.

Third Polish Republic (1989–present)

On 3 August 1999, Pekao became a member of the UniCredit company.

In December 2016, Polish state-owned PZU together with Polish Development Fund acquired Bank Pekao – Poland's second largest bank previously owned by Italian bank UniCredit by buying a 32.8% stake in the bank for the amount of PLN 10.6 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).

In September 2018 Bank Pekao has opened a representative office in London, with the aim to facilitate cooperation between Poland and the UK and to stay close to their clients and investors. Bank Pekao also plans on opening several other offices across Europe.

At the end of 2020, Bank Pekao announced its acquisition of Idea Bank, which was subjected to compulsory restructuring to prevent bankruptcy. The acquisition was facilitated by Poland's Bank Guarantee Fund (BGF), an institution aiming to maintain stability in the financial system and resolving issues with financially distressed institutions.

Since 2022, the Headquarters of the Bank are located in the Forest Tower in Warsaw, Poland.

In 2022 Bank Pekao's profits declined by 48.8% due to two main factors. The first reason was the introduction of payment holidays by the Polish government, which allowed mortgage holders to postpone payment instalments, which in turn led to a cost of 2.4 billion zlotys ($498.4 million) for the bank. The second reason were the increased provisions for legal risks as Bank Pekao expected a higher number of court cases related to the long-running Swiss franc mortgage affair. After initially predicting a decrease in interest margins for 2023, due to higher deposit costs and the potential of the polish central bank reducing interest rates, for the first quarter of 2023 the net interest income grew by 34% to 2.77 billion zlotys ($651.1 million), while the net profit surged by 60% to 1.45 billion zlotys ($349.7 million).

In early 2023, Bank Pekao, alongside three other banks, signed a cooperation agreement with Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE). The agreement aims to provide financing for the construction of several BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMs) in the country. According to Bank Pekao's President, Leszek Skiba, the investment was made because nuclear energy production aligns with Bank Pekao's aspirations to be a leader in Poland's energy transformation.

List of directors

List of Bank Pekao CEOs:

• Marian Kanton (1989–1996)
• Andrzej Dorosz (1996–1998)
• Maria Pasło-Wiśniewska (1998–2003)
• Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (2003–2010)
• Alicja Kornasiewicz (2010–2011)
• Luigi Lovaglio (2011–2017)
• Michał Krupiński (2017–2019)
• Marek Lusztyn (2019–2020)
• Leszek Skiba (2020–)

Pekao Group

Apart from Pekao Bank, Pekao Group's subsidiaries are:

• Centralny Dom Maklerski Pekao SA
• Centrum Bankowości Bezpośredniej Sp. z o.o. (call center)
• Pekao Leasing Sp. z o.o.
• Pekao Investment Banking SA
• Pekao Leasing Holding SA
• Pekao Leasing Sp. z o.o.
• Pekao Faktoring Sp. z o.o.
• Pekao Pioneer Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne SA
• Centrum Kart S.A
• Pekao Bank Hipoteczny SA (działalność bankowa)
• Pekao Financial Services Sp. z o.o.
• Pekao Fundusz Kapitałowy Sp. z o.o.
• Pekao Property SA
• FPB – Media Sp. z o.o.

Miscellaneous

Bank Pekao was the official bank and sponsor of the UEFA EURO in 2012.

Gallery

• Bank Pekao SA's flag with characteristic logo
• Bank Pekao SA Head Office in Warsaw
• Bank Pekao Building in Kraków
• Bank Pekao in Warsaw
• Bank Pekao in Tarnów
• Bank Pekao in Kalisz
• Branch of Bank Pekao in Bydgoszcz

See also

• Bon PeKaO
• Ukrsotsbank

References

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13. ^ "History of Bank Pekao - Bank Pekao S.A." www.pekao.com.pl. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
14. "UniCredit sells Bank Pekao stake to Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń and Polski Fundusz Rozwoju". 8 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
15. "Poland's Bank Pekao opens London office". Emerging Europe. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
16. "Poland's Pekao to take over Idea Bank after compulsory restructuring". Reuters. 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
17. "Bank Pekao moves HQ to 18 floors of Forest Tower | EurobuildCEE". eurobuildcee.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
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19. "Polish banks' fortunes dip as regulatory burden bites". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
20. "Polish bank Pekao sent to net loss by payment holidays". Reuters. 2022-11-03. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
21. "Polish banks may book more provisions to cover Swiss franc mortgage risk". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
22. Rabiega, Mateusz (2023-03-02). "Polish bank Pekao expects interest margins to decline this year -CEO". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
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24. S.A, Telewizja Polska. "Several small modular reactors to be built in Poland". tvpworld.com (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-06-28.
25. "Finance agreed for Polish SMR plans - Nuclear Engineering International". www.neimagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
26. "Igor Chalupec, partner i prezes Icentis oraz prezes Ruch SA". polskieradio24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-04-25.
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External links

• Pekao Bank's history page
• Media related to Pekao at Wikimedia Commons

v t e WIG30 companies of Warsaw Stock Exchange
Alior Bank Allegro Asseco Poland Bank Pekao Benefit Systems Budimex CCC CD Projekt Cyfrowy Polsat Dino Polska Enea SA Eurocash Grupa Azoty Grupa Kęty Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa KGHM Polska Miedź Kruk LPP mBank Bank Millennium Orange Polska Orlen SA Pepco PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna PKO Bank Polski PZU SA Santander Bank Polska Tauron Polska Energia Text XTB

v t e Largest banks in Poland
Alior Bank BGK BNP Paribas Bank Polska BOŚ BPS Bank Handlowy w Warszawie Credit Agricole Bank Polska ING Bank Śląski mBank Millennium Nest Bank Pekao PKO BP Pocztowy Santander Bank Polska Santander Consumer Bank SGB-Bank VeloBank

• Companies in the WIG30
• Government-owned companies of Poland
• Banks of Poland
• Banks established in 1929
• Companies based in Warsaw
• Former UniCredit subsidiaries
• 1929 establishments in Poland
• Companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
• Companies in the Central European Blue Chip Index
• Polish brands
• Companies set up in the Second Republic of Poland