Christiania Bank major financial crisis in Norway and by 1991 the bank had used up all capital. To save the bank, the Government of Norway took over the bank and gave it new capital, rescuing it from bankruptcy. In the early years of the 1990s, the bank also bought Sunnmørsbanken and Sørlandsbanken. In 1995, the government reduced its ownership to 51%, listing it on the Oslo Stock Exchange, and in 1999 to 35%. The same year, the Swedish MeritaNordbanken bid for the bank, and in 2000 the government sold its shares and the bank became part of Nordea. Christiania Bank was at
Freetown Christiania open drug trade of Christiania was a thorn in the side of Danish authorities, a constant source of public discussion, and led to protests from neighboring countries as well (especially Sweden with its no-tolerance drug policy). When the centre-right cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen took office in 2001, one of its promises was to end illegal activities at Christiania. These were, including the obvious cannabis market, a long list of alleged criminal activities. People demanded the end of 'hard drugs' sales, such as cocaine and amphetamines, weapons trade, dealing with contraband etc. The Christiania residents claimed them to be purely