The story
The Cantonal Bank of Bern was founded in 1834 as one of the earliest cantonal banks, following the adoption of a liberal state constitution in the canton of Bern three years prior. This new political arrangement gave citizens the freedom to engage in trade and commerce, leading to the establishment of the Cantonal Bank, which supplied the funds necessary to finance these endeavours. In its early stages, this institution provided services to an extensive demographic and helped encourage economic growth in the region. Over the course of its history, the Cantonal Bank has continued to expand its range of offerings to clients.
It opened its first three branches in 1858 in Saint-Imier, Burgdorf, and Biel/Bienne, and in 1958 the balance of the bank exceeded one billion.
In 1991, the "Cantonal Bank of Bern" and the "Hypothekarkasse des Kantons Bern" merged to form the Berner Kantonalbank. The newly formed institution was mandated to serve as a modern universal bank, fulfil economic and social tasks in the interests of the public and the state, and compete and adapt to new developments in the market with flexibility.
In 1979, four branches of the newly formed cantonal bank Banque cantonale du Jura were transferred and the Berner Kantonalbank had to realign its business and credit policy at the beginning of the 1990s due to the real estate crisis. To separate the recovering bank from the then-founded Dezennium-Finanz AG (DFAG), assets that did not comply with the Berner Kantonalbank’s new business and credit policy were transferred to DFAG in 1993. In order to support the restructuring of their bank, the canton of Bern allocated a total of CHF 1.45 billion over the subsequent years.
Since 1996, the Berner Kantonalbank (BEKB) has operated under the short or brand name of "BEKB | BCBE".
In 1998, BEKB became the first cantonal bank to be converted into a private stock corporation, with a new "Law on the Berner Kantonalbank Stock Corporation" passed to separate the responsibilities of the owner and the management. The canton of Berne's initial majority shareholding was gradually reduced to 51.5 per cent over the subsequent years, with BEKB having paid out around CHF 1.8 billion in dividends and taxes since this time.
In 1999, following the dissolution of the Solothurner Kantonalbank, the BEKB opened its first branch outside the canton of Solothurn. The same year, it became the first cantonal bank organized under private law to have its registered shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich.
In 2022, the IT subsidiary which had grown from the original DXC was given the designation Aity.
From Wikipedia’s article on Berner Kantonalbank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5