Fellesbanken

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Fellesbanken A/S
Type	Private
Founded	1920
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway
Area served	Norway
Industry	Banking
Employees	661 (1977)
Parent	Norwegian savings banks

Fellesbanken was a Norwegian bank that existed between 1920 and 1985 with offices in Oslo. It was created as a central bank for the Norwegian savings banks as well as functioning as a commercial bank. It merged with Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus in 1985 to form Sparebanken ABC. It is now part of DnB NOR.

[edit] History

Fellesbanken was created with two functions. First of all it was to function as a central bank for the savings banks of Norway. Originally the savings banks of Norway were all independent banks without branches, though they still had a need for central banking functions. It was not until after the war that it became normal for savings banks to merge and the need for such a central bank depleated. Fellesbanken was also a commercial bank, and allowed the savings banks to have such a bank. Commercial banks had certain privilages that savings banks didn't, especially within the business sector. These priviages dissapeared, and by the time of ther merger they were non-existent.

In the 1970s Fellesbanken established branches in Bergen, Bodø, Kristiansand, Sarpsborg, Tromsø, Trondheim and Vadsø. After the establishment of regional savings banks Fellesbanken became redundant and a competitor, and in the 1980s the bank was made a savings bank. In 1985 it merged with Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus.