The group now called ICB Banking Group started in 1993 with the establishment of IC Banka in the Czech Republic as a commercial bank focused on fostering trade links between the Czech Republic and Malaysia. This was followed by IC Bank in Hungary in 1994, and in 1996 the first two African subsidiaries were established in Ghana and Guinea. In the next six years the African network was extended to Tanzania, Mozambique and Sierra Leone.
In 2003 the individual ownerships of the ICB Banking Group were incorporated into a Swiss-based holding company, ICB Financial Group Holdings. In the same year the group made its first investment in the Asian banking market by acquiring a 20% holding in Sorak Financial Holdings, the majority shareholder in Bank Internasional Indonesia.
In the following year it acquired a majority shareholding in Bank Bumiputera Indonesia, a mid-size bank and set up a subsidiary in Gambia. In the last two years subsidiaries have been opened in Senegal, Liberia and Djibouti.
While all the banks are relatively small on the global scale it is interesting that there is a group investing in Africa at a time when other multinational banks are reviewing their commitment to the region.
