Handelsbanken refutes erroneous information in Dagens Industri

The Dagens Industri newspaper (DI) has published on 12 December 2016 on its website and on 13 December in its paper edition, erroneous information regarding the Chairman of the Handelsbanken Board, Pär Boman, and his pension terms.

Dagens Industri erroneously writes that Pär Boman, after stepping down as Group Chief Executive in March 2015, “was compensated for his loss of salary through a change in his pension – something that increased costs to shareholders by SEK 54 million.”

DI’s information, statements and conclusions are groundless and completely erroneous.

The facts are as follows:

In March 2015, prior to the Bank’s annual general meeting, the then Group Chief Executive Pär Boman chose to terminate his employment with the Bank when he had been proposed as Chairman of the Board. His reason for doing this was to secure a greater degree of independence for the role of Chairman of the Board. All agreements relating to Pär Boman’s employment as Group Chief Executive were signed before the time that he chose to step down at his own initiative – and were signed by the elected Chairman of the Board on each occasion. Thus, no new agreement was signed when he stepped down from the position.

All remuneration and pension obligations have also been reported in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations in the Bank’s annual accounts.

The increase in pension obligations for Handelsbanken is generally due to actuarial assumptions – particularly a reduced discount rate. The funds that have been allocated to Pär Boman’s pension also include a recovery – a ‘curtailment gain.’ This means a saving for the Bank and its shareholders of approx. SEK 30 million. Consequently, the claims that the termination of Pär Boman’s employment cost shareholders SEK 54 million are false.

In addition to the straight factual errors in the article, there are also examples of the reader being misled. Among other things, the article gives the impression that Pär Boman was a member of the Bank’s remuneration committee when the matter of his pension was on the agenda. This is incorrect. The Bank’s Group Chief Executive is not a member of the remuneration committee, and naturally does not take part in the Board’s consideration of the Group Chief Executive’s remuneration and pension.



 

For further information, please contact:

Johan Lagerström, Chief Communications Officer, +46 8–701 13 95,
+46 70–265 80 14
Johan Wallqvist, Head of Group Media Relations, +46 8–701 80 47,
 +46 72–206 34 50

This information is of the type that Handelsbanken is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Markets Act.   The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 23:59 CET on 12 December 2016. For more information about Handelsbanken, see: www.handelsbanken.com