User:Trident13/WestLB
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Westdeutsche Landesbank AG also known as WestLB
WestLB AG is a European commercial bank with firm roots in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany´s largest federal state. With total assets of € 265.0 billion as at December 31, 2005, it is one of Germany´s leading financial services providers. It is the central institution for the savings banks in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, and as an internationally operating commercial bank it acts as their link to the global financial markets. Working in close partnership with the savings banks, WestLB offers the full range of products and services of a universal bank, focusing on lending, structured finance, capital market and private equity products, asset management, transaction services and real estate finance. WestLB employs 6,353 staff (as of December 30, 2005).
A Strong Financial Partner in a Strong Alliance As a strong partner in the Savings Banks Financial Group and competence centre, WestLB provides the regionally operating savings banks with attractive products and services as well as efficient execution. It is also financial partner to major corporations and larger medium-sized companies, institutional clients and public-sector clients. Thanks to its presence in the most important financial centres around the world, WestLB provides acknowledged capital market expertise and access to the international capital markets for its clients and the savings banks. The regional focus of its activities is on Europe and on North Rhine-Westphalia in particular. In a close business partnership based on shared cooperation, individual agreements govern the joint market approach of WestLB and the savings banks. Medium-sized companies, in particular, benefit from this. For ?Mittelstand? clients, WestLB concentrates its product mix on export financing, leasing, forfaiting, securitisation and selected capital market and equity products. By providing efficient financial solutions, WestLB aims to be the premier partner of its clients. In doing so, it seeks to ensure the long-term success of the company for shareholders and employees alike. In accordance with the principles of the Corporate Governance Code, the Bank behaves in a responsible and transparent manner towards clients, shareholders, employees and the public. WestLB AG is aware of its social responsibility and its actions are guided by the objectives of sustainable development.
In addition to its head office in Düsseldorf and Münster, WestLB has branch offices in Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Munich. In Europe, WestLB maintains branches in Istanbul, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris and outside Europe in Hong Kong, New York, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. The Bank also has representative offices and subsidiaries in all the major trading centres of the world.
Firm Roots in the Home Region WestLB was created in 1969 by the merger of its old-established predecessor institutions, Landesbank für Westfalen Girozentrale, Münster, founded in 1832, and Rheinische Girozentrale und Provinzialbank, Düsseldorf, founded in 1854. On August 30, 2002, WestLB was transformed into a joint stock company after the public mission activities were integrated into Landesbank NRW (now NRW.BANK), which was established on August 1, 2002. The entire commercial business activities of the former WestLB are now concentrated in WestLB AG. On July 19, 2005, institutional liability and guarantor liability were abolished. WestLB now competes in the market as a new type of universal bank without state guarantees.
