BANKVIRKSOMHED

BANKING

Banks are helping manage payments of households and businesses in connection with the purchase and sale of goods and services and the payment of wages. Banks ensure that these payments go through smoothly.

Apart from banks, POST Greenland (TELE Greenland Ltd) also perform basic banking business in many towns on the Greenlandic coast as per agreement with the Government of Greenland. Furthermore, KNI Ltd offers basic banking transactions in smaller towns and settlements and receives subsidies from the government in that connection.

The BANK of Greenland Ltd is the only Greenlandic full-service bank. It is headquartered in Nuuk and has branches in Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Qaqortoq, and Maniitsoq.

BankNordik Ltd, headquartered in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands, is the only foreign bank with branches in Greenland, namely in Nuuk, Sisimiut, and Ilulissat.

Many individuals and businesses have accounts in foreign, mainly Danish banks.

Figure 1 shows the distribution of deposits and loans with the different banks.

Figure 1

Distribution of Deposits and Loans for Individuals and Businesses

Note: Since 2002, there may have been shifts in market shares between the banks.

Source: The Self-Government Commission, 2003. Run prepared by CSC Denmark Ltd on the basis of figures from the Tax and Customs Administration and the Tax Department (2002).

Banking in Greenland is subject to FSA control.

Figure 2

Average Rates of Interest on Deposits and Loans

Note: The interest rates express the average rate of the bank, i.e. the investment income from loans divided by the total number of loans and the interest paid on deposits divided by the total number of deposits.