Simon Abendanon founded De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB) on 19 January 1865, in Paramaribo, and it opened for business on 18 July 1865, in the home of one of the founders, pending construction of its own building.

After the abolition of slavery in 1863, there was a period of monetary chaos and Abendanon saw an opportunity in creating a bank that would issue bank-notes and use the funds to finance trade.

In 1957, DSB formally gave up its right to issue notes to the newly formed Central Bank of Suriname.

[1] In 2016, the bank suffered a major loss, partly due to irresponsibly large loans to the Surinamese government.

A week earlier, the CBvS called on fellow banks to deposit money in an emergency fund to keep the DSB afloat.