The story
Founded in 1922, Bank Gutmann was active in all areas of the banking business at the time, with the exception of accepting savings deposits and issuing bonds and mortgage bonds. Its clientele included the most important companies in the Gutmann Group as well as a number of companies not belonging to the Gutmann Group. Bank Gutmann managed the finances for the companies of the Gutmann Group, but did not hold any shares in them. The Gutmann Group was hit hard by the global economic crisis in the 1930s. After the National Socialists seized power in 1938, the assets of the Gutmann family were "aryanised". In this context, the liquidation of Bank Gutmann was initiated, but not completed until the end of the Second World War. In 1947, the Gutmann family successfully applied to the Austrian Ministry of Finance for the liquidation to be terminated and for the bank license to be revived. However, Bank Gutmann did not subsequently develop any activities other than the payment of pensions for former employees. In 1957, Karl Kahane acquired the bank from the Gutmanns and began to rebuild the banking business. Initially, the focus was on foreign exchange transactions for leading Austrian companies. After the expansion of further business areas, Bank Gutmann was converted into a public limited company in 1971. In the 1980s, Bank Gutmann placed bonds of the Republic of Austria and state-owned utilities and road construction companies with the country's leading insurance institutions. Bank Gutmann was also involved in the establishment of external pension funds in the 2000s as an investor and consultant.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bank Gutmann, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5