Bank Pekao

Bank Pekao S.A.
Company typeJoint-stock company (spółka akcyjna)
ISINPLPEKAO00016
IndustryFinance and Insurance
Founded17 March 1929; 95 years ago (1929-03-17)
FounderMinistry of Treasury
Headquarters,
Key people
Leszek Skiba, CEO
ProductsFinancial services
$563.1 million (2022)[1]
Total assets$79.6 billion (2024)[2]
Number of employees
13,497 (2021)[3]
Websitewww.pekao.com.pl

Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spółka Akcyjna, commonly using the shorter name Bank Pekao S.A., is a universal bank and currently the second largest bank in Poland with its headquarters in Warsaw. The Italian bank UniCredit used to own 59% of the company.[4] It sold the bank in December 2016.[5] Now Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń owns 20% of the company, Polish Development Fund 12.80%, UniCredit 6.28% and others 60.94%.

The bank was founded in 1929 by the Ministry of Treasury as a national bank, mainly to provide financial services to Poles living abroad.[4] In 1939 the bank had branches in virtually every capital city of countries where Poles lived.

The full name "Polska Kasa Opieki" may be translated literally as "Polish Bank of Aid", and the popular form "Pekao" sounds out the acronym "PKO".

  1. ^ "The Global 2000 2022". Forbes. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  2. ^ "The Global 2000". Forbes. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Banki w Polsce 2021. Ranking największych banków" (in Polish). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Banks in Poland - Overview of Top 10 Banks in Poland". Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  5. ^ Foy, Henry (2 January 2017). "New Bank Pekao owner vows to keep it independent". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-01-09.