National Workers' Savings Bank

Created in 1971 through a merger of five local workers' savings banks, the oldest component of STS was the Helsinki branch, founded in 1909.

The bank went almost bankrupt in 1992 and was sold at a loss to KOP (later Nordea), with the government taking care of much of the bad debt.

[1] For much of its history, it functioned efficiently as a savings bank with a working class (principally construction workers) clientele.

Furthermore, STS had borrowed ½ billion to the cooperative retailer EKA and the construction company Haka, both bound for bankruptcy.

Facing bankruptcy, the remaining parts were sold in 1992 to another major bank, Kansallis-Osake-Pankki, which took over the operations and terminated its independent brand and existence.

The allegations and protracted court cases due to the STS collapse damaged his career, preventing ascendancy to prime minister.

Sundquist was eventually convicted of debtor's dishonesty (a felony of hiding assets from creditors), with his appeal denied by the Supreme Court in 2001.