Incentive program for employees and local board members of FSPA (Swedbank)

Incentive program for employees and local board members of FöreningsSparbanken (Swedbank) The Board of Directors of FöreningsSparbanken today has decided to propose that the bank's Annual General Meeting approve the issue of promissory notes with detachable warrants. Employees of the bank and its wholly owned Group companies as well as board members of FöreningsSparbanken's local banking units will receive an offer in April/May 2000 to purchase warrants in FöreningsSparbanken at market value, according to a special prospectus. The Board of Directors' motive for issuing the offer to employees and board members of FöreningsSparbanken's local banks is to allow these groups to share in the bank's expected appreciation in value. Presumably, this will further increase their commitment and motivation, thereby benefiting both the bank and its shareholders. "The commitment and motivation of our employees is of decisive importance to the Group's development and to the value we are able to create together with our customers," comments FöreningsSparbanken CEO Göran Ahlström. "This will be of even greater importance to our further development if we are to best meet the challenges and opportunities of the new millennium. I am therefore very pleased that the Board of Directors has now decided to recommend an incentive program for employees and members of our local boards, who play an exceptionally important role in maintaining the bank's local presence and the positive interaction with the local economy." In total, the offer encompasses around 10,600 people, all of whom will be guaranteed at least 1,000 warrants. According to the proposal, local bank managers and others who report directly to the Executive Management are guaranteed 5,000 warrants and members of the Executive Management 20,000 warrants. Everyone, with the exception of the Executive Management, will be able to purchase additional warrants if available. Each warrant entitles its holder to subscribe for one new FöreningsSparbanken share with a par value of SEK 20. The offer comprises not more than 15.2 million warrants, corresponding to a maximum dilution of 2.9% of the current subscribed capital. In order to increase interest in the purchase of the warrants, FöreningsSparbanken plans to give the majority of the employees entitled to participate in the offer a subsidy when they subscribe for at least 200 warrants. The subsidy will be allocated as a one-time amount in connection with payment for the warrants and will correspond after tax to approximately the cost of 200 warrants. The cost of the subsidy for FöreningsSparbanken is estimated at SEK 70 M. As proposed, the warrants will have a subscription period of approximately 5 years. The price of the warrants will be based on a calculation made by Swedbank Markets and Alfred Berg Fondkommission AB. The subscription price per share will be determined based on market conditions by applying the Black & Scholes valuation model, taking into account, among other things, a price per warrant of approximately SEK 15 and the average price paid for FöreningsSparbanken's share during a two-week period in April/May 2000. The intention is to list the warrants within a three-year period. Notice of the Annual General Meeting in Malmö on April 12, 2000 will be issued around March 8, 2000. The Board of Directors' complete proposal will be made available as of April 5, 2000 at FöreningsSparbanken's head office in Stockholm. For further information, please contact: Göran Ahlström, President and CEO, telephone +46 8 5859 2898 or Einar Frydén, Information Manager, telephone +46 8 5859 1630, mobile +46 70 511 00 33, einar.fryden@foreningssparbanken.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/02/20000302BIT00520/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/02/20000302BIT00520/bit0002.pdf