Op Bank Group Central Cooperative COMPANY RELEASE: Stock Exchange Release
OKO Bank plc 12 September 2007 at 10.40 am
OP BANK GROUP CHANGES NAME TO OP-POHJOLA GROUP, AND OKO BANK TO POHJOLA
BANK
The name of OP Bank Group will change to OP-Pohjola Group and OKO
Bank Plc to
Pohjola Bank plc. The new names will combine banking,
investment and non-life
insurance operations and two strong Finnish brands
with long traditions. The
decisions concerning the name changes and the
proposals to OKO Bank's
Extraordinary General Meeting were made
today at the OP Bank Group Central
Cooperative's Supervisory Board and
OKO Bank's Board of Directors.
"The new name of the Group
describes the comprehensive range of our services,
the size of the Group
and its strong Finnish roots," says Reijo Karhinen,
OP-Pohjola Group's
Executive Chairman.
"It was
exactly two years ago that the Group decided to enter the non-life
insurance business with the purchase of Pohjola. The integration of
operations
that followed has progressed fully according to plans and the
related structural
reorganisation has been completed."
According to Karhinen, the name change is the icing on
the cake after two years
of integration, and continues, "It follows logically
that the reformed Group
should officially start using the name that so
well describes its current status
as the leading financial services group in
Finland."
One name, brand and corporate culture
for OKO Bank
The Pohjola acquisition changed
OKO Bank's structure and business content
dramatically, and the name
change will bring all operations under a single name
and brand.
"The Pohjola brand
is extremely well known by consumers, businesses and other
organisations.
Half of OKO Bank's business concerns non-life insurance and the
other half
is mainly done with large companies and organisations. Therefore
Pohjola
was an appropriate name for the company that had undergone such a major
shift," says Mikael Silvennoinen, President and CEO of OKO Bank.Two years ago
OKO Bank plc bought the share majority of what was then Pohjola Group plc
and
later bought the entire share capital. It was agreed in connection with
the deal
that the OKO Bank Group will retain the Pohjola brand. The deal was
followed by
a structural reorganisation to streamline the Group structure and
remove
overlapping functions.
Names of cooperative banks unchanged
The name changes of OP Bank Group and OKO Bank will not
affect the names of
member cooperative banks in any way. Nor will the
products and services of
retail customers be affected. Non-life
insurance will still be sold under the
Pohjola brand, while bank products
are provided by the cooperative banks.
Schedule for name changes
The OP Bank Group name
change will be effective immediately.
OKO Bank's name
cannot be changed until approved by OKO Bank's extraordinary
general
meeting which OKO Bank's Board of Directors has summoned to convene on
9
October 2007. The new name is scheduled to be adopted on 1 March 2008.
The names of OKO Bank's major subsidiaries will also be changed to
conform with
the Pohjola brand: OKO Asset Management Limited will be changed
to Pohjola Asset
Management Ltd, OKO Venture Capital Ltd to Pohjola Capital
Partners Ltd and OKO
Corporate Finance Ltd to Pohjola Corporate Finance Ltd.
Moreover, Pohjola
Non-Life Insurance Company Ltd will be changed to
Pohjola Insurance Ltd.
Press conference today at 2.30 pm.
A press conference will be arranged today
on 12 September 2007 at 2.30 pm at the
OP Bank Group Central Cooperative,
address Teollisuuskatu 1, Helsinki.
With over four million
customers, OP-Pohjola Group is the leading financial
services group in
Finland. It consists of 231 independent member cooperative
banks and the
Group's central institution, the OP Bank Group Central
Cooperative, with its subsidiaries and closely-related companies, the largest
of
which is the listed company OKO Bank plc. OP-Pohjola Group offers a
comprehensive range of banking, investment and insurance services to
retail
customers and to businesses and other organisations.
OKO Bank plc is a Finnish financial services company that
provides banking,
investment and non-life insurance services. OKO Bank is
one of Finland's leading
players both as a commercial bank and non-life
insurance company. OKO Bank
Series A shares have been quoted on the
Helsinki Stock Exchange since 1989.
There are some 33,000 shareholders.
Op Bank Group Central
Cooperative
OKO Bank plc
Markku
Koponen
Senior Vice President
DISTRIBUTION
OMX Nordic Exchange Helsinki
Principal media
www.op.fi
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Executive Chairman Reijo Karhinen, OP-Pohjola Group, tel.
+358 10 252 4500
Mikael Silvennoinen, President and CEO, OKO Bank plc,
tel. +358 10 252 2549