MKB_Bank

MKB Bank

MKB Bank

State-controlled bank in Hungary


MKB Bank, initially Magyar Külkereskedelmi Bank (lit.'Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank'), was a Hungarian state-owned bank founded in 1950. It was privatized in the mid-1990s, then renationalized in the 2010s. It eventually merged in the early 2020s with Budapest Bank and Takarékbank to form Magyar Bank Holding, branded MBH Bank [hu], thus creating the second-largest commercial bank in Hungary behind OTP Bank. The complex three-way merger was announced in 2020 and completed in 2023.[1]

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History

MKB was created in 1950 within the communist-era single-tier banking system, in which it was one of the country's four main financial institutions alongside the Hungarian National Bank, the Hungarian Investment Bank (renamed the State Bank for Development in 1972 and liquidated in 1987),[2]:386 and the Hungarian National Savings Bank Company.[2]:382 It took over assets and operations, among others, from the former Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest. The purpose of its establishment was to participate in the international monetary system and manage financial transactions related to foreign trade.

In 1987 Hungary reformed its banking system. MKB received full operational license to service the general population.[3] It was the first of the top five state-owned banks to be privatized, in 1994-1995 when BayernLB acquired a 25 percent stake, subsequently raised in stages until the mid-2000s. In 2012, having received state aid in Germany, BayernLB was forced by the European Commission to divest its ownership of MKB,[4] as a consequence of which the Hungarian government took back control.[5]

In May 2020, it was announced that Budapest Bank and Takarékbank would merge with MKB under the common entity Magyar Bankholding (MBH).[6] In 2022, MKB absorbed Budapest Bank on March 31,[1] and later took over the Hungarian loan portfolio of Sberbank.[7] The merger with Takarékbank was finalized on 30 April 2023.[1]

Political ties

MKB Bank has financed by loan the campaign of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. The asset declarations of France's presidential candidates reveal that she received some EUR 10.7 million in total.[8]

See also


References

  1. "MBH: Second Largest Player in Hungarian Banking Starts Operations". Hungary today. 12 May 2023.
  2. Imre Lengyel (April 1994), "The Hungarian Banking System in Transition", GeoJournal, 32:4: 381–391
  3. "Az MKB Bank története". 127.0.0.1 (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  4. Péter Vass (March 2019), "Member banks of the Hungarian Banking Association" (PDF), Economy and Finance (GÉP), 6:1, Budapest: Hungarian Banking Association: 95
  5. "Hungary nationalises German-owned MKB bank". ft.com. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2017.



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