New shipping bank to be launched in Oslo

The new bank Maritime & Merchant bank will be based in Oslo and will apply for a banking license later this year with a view to starting operations in the second quarter of next year according to reports. The bank will raise $300m in equity to fund operations and meet regulatory requirements.

The bank is reported to be aiming to plug the gap for smaller–to-mid sized owners who have been hit by either the withdrawl completely or downsizing of some of the major banks shipping portfolios.

“For the huge continental banks it will probably have consequences that shipping would not necessarily be their priority because they have to concentrate on their core business,” Halvor Sveen, ceo of the new bank told Bloomberg.

Oldendorff is chairman of Maritime & Merchant Bank.

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