Our Parents
22.Oct, 2010
Our shareholders are the Erste Group Bank AG (60%) and the ERSTE Foundation (40%).
Erste Group was founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank (“Erste oesterreichische Spar-Casse”). In 1997, Erste Group went public with a strategy to expand its retail business into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Since then Erste Group’s customer base has grown through numerous acquisitions and organic growth from 600,000 to around 17 million. 95% of all clients are citizens of the European Union. The EU membership gives the countries of the region a stable regulatory framework that supports their economic development. Today Erste Group is one of the largest financial services providers in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of clients and total assets. It has always focused on retail and SME banking.
ERSTE FoundationIn 2003, ERSTE Foundation evolved out of the Erste Oesterreichische Spar-Casse, the first Austrian savings bank. Currently, ERSTE Foundation holds 24.8 % of the capital shares of Erste Group. The foundation invests part of its dividends in the development of societies in Austria and Central and South Eastern Europe. It supports social participation and civil-society engagement; it aims to bring people together and disseminate knowledge of the recent history of a region that has been undergoing dramatic changes since 1989. As an active foundation, it develops its own projects within the framework of three programmes: Social Development, Culture and Europe.
