A new maritime bank that aims to bridge the funding gap in the maritime finance market has been announced.
Named the Maritime and Merchant Bank (M&M), the bank will be a niche financial institution focused on the global shipping and offshore industries.
A newly formed project company will file a banking license application on behalf of M&M later in the year.
The main sponsoring shareholders of M&M are currently Arne Blystad, Henning Oldendorff, Nergaard Investment Partners (controlled by Alex and Birger Nergaard) and Landmark Holdings in Shanghai.
Targeting vessel owners, M&M will focus on the maritime and offshore industries, providing a broad range of services including: secured lending, syndication, hedging products and payment services.
Pending the successful resolution of the filing process, the bank is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2014.