Bank of Åland was founded in 1919 and has been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 1942. In the 1990s Bank of Åland expanded its operations to the Finnish mainland and in March 2009 the bank established itself in Sweden through the acquisition of the Icelandic Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB.In October 2008 Kaupthing hf in Iceland was nationalized and the shares in the subsidiary Kaupthing Bank Sverige AB were taken by the Swedish National Bank as a pledge. In March 2009 Bank of Åland Plc acquired most of Kaupthing's Swedish activities.