Glitnir

The financial group Glitnir offered universal banking and was a leading niche player in three global segments; seafood/food, sustainable energy, and offshore supply vessels. Glitnir operated branches in London and Copenhagen, and had representative offices in Halifax, Canada and in Shanghai, China. Services included retail, corporate and investment banking, stock trade and capital management. Glitnir also had a fully owned bank in Luxembourg (Glitnir Bank Luxembourg S.A) and banks and financial services companies in Norway.

Glitnir considered Iceland and Norway its home markets. Since 2004, Glitnir had acquired BNbank and Glitnir bank (previously Kredittbanken), Glitnir Securities (previously Norse Securities) and Glitnir Kapitalforvaltning, the factoring company Glitnir Factoring (previously FactoNor), and 50.1 percent of Union Gruppen in Norway. In addition, Glitnir's subsidiary BNbank acquired 45 per cent of the shares in Norsk Privatøkonomi ASA, an independent financial advisory company with 12 branches in key areas of Norway, in July 2006.

Glitnir continued to expand its operations in the Nordic countries. In Sweden, Glitnir owns the leading Swedish brokerage firm Glitnir AB (formerly Fischer Partners). The acquisition of 68.1 per cent of the shares in the Finnish investment firm FIM was announced in early February 2007 and completed later in the spring of 2007. Glitnir announced strong profits for 2006, with a return on equity after tax of 39.4 per cent.