HypoVereinsbank

HypoVereinsbank (HVB), legally registered since late 2008 as UniCredit Bank AG, is a significant bank in Germany headquartered in Munich. It has been part of the Milan-based UniCredit group since 2005, and fully owned by it since 2008. As a consequence, HVB is operating exclusively in Germany, where it mainly focuses on private clients business and corporate banking, customer-related capital market activities and wealth management. HypoVereinsbank's predecessor entities include financial institutions that played major roles in the financial history of Bavaria, including the Bavarian State Bank (1780-1971), Hypo-Bank (1835-1998), Bayerische Vereinsbank (1869-1998), and Bayerische Notenbank (1875-1934). In 1780, Margrave Alexander of Brandenburg-Ansbach, inspired by the example of Prussia's Königliche Hauptbank in Berlin, founded the Hochfürstlich-Brandenburg-Anspach-Bayreuthische Hofbanco (Princely Court Bank of Brandenburg-Anspach-Bayreuth) in Ansbach, using a small amount of 15,000 guilders as operating capital. The margrave resorted to this plan for economic reasons, as he wanted to avoid the fees charged by the foreign banks and access the aid funds provided by England for his soldier trade. The American Revolutionary War between England and France in North America had led England to conclude contracts with German counts and request troops from them in exchange for aid funds. In 1792, the Principality of Ansbach was taken over by Prussia and the bank was renamed Königlich Preußische Banco in Franken. In 1806, Ansbach became part of Bavaria and the bank became Königlich Baierische Banco, then Königliche Bank Nürnberg as its seat was relocated to Nuremberg in 1807. It opened operations in Würzburg in 1835, then in Augsburg and Munich in 1875, the latter known as the Royal Subsidiary Bank (Königliche Filialbank). The end of the monarchy in Bavaria in 1918 saw the renaming of the bank to Bavarian State Bank (Bayerische Staatsbank). It was eventually acquired by the Vereinsbank in 1971.