Handelsbanken's Annual General Meeting 2021

The 2021 annual general meeting of Svenska Handelsbanken AB was held today 24 March 2021. In order to counteract the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19, the meeting was conducted through postal voting, without any physical presence.

Board and auditors

At the annual general meeting, the following members of the Board were re-elected:

Mr Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Mr Hans Biörck, Mr Pär Boman, Ms Kerstin Hessius, Mr Fredrik Lundberg, Mr Ulf Riese, Ms Arja Taaveniku and Ms Carina Åkerström. Ms Stina Bergfors was elected as a new member. Mr Pär Boman was re-elected as Chairman of the Board. At the subsequent first Board meeting, Mr Fredrik Lundberg was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board. At the annual general meeting, the Board members and the CEO were discharged from liability.

In accordance with the nomination committee’s proposal, Ernst & Young AB and PricewaterhouseCoopers AB were elected as auditors, with authorised public accountant Mr Jesper Nilsson as auditor-in-charge for Ernst & Young AB, and authorised public accountant Mr Johan Rippe as auditor-in-charge for PricewaterhouseCoopers AB.    

Fees

The annual general meeting voted in favour of the nomination committee’s proposal regarding fees to the Board. The fees will be as follows: SEK 3,500,000 to the Chairman, SEK 1,000,000 to the Vice Chairman and SEK 715,000 to each of the remaining members. For committee work, the following fees are payable per member: remuneration committee SEK 140,000; credit committee SEK 425,000 to members and SEK 475,000 to the chair; UK-committee SEK 425,000 to members and SEK 475,000 to the chair; risk committee SEK 425,000 to members and SEK 525,000 to the chair; and audit committee SEK 425,000 to members and SEK 525,000 to the chair. Board members who are employees of the Bank do not receive a fee.

Fees to auditors were resolved in accordance with the nomination committee’s proposal to be paid on approved account.

Income statement and balance sheet, remuneration report

The annual general meeting adopted the income statement and balance sheet for 2020 and approved the Board’s remuneration report for 2020.

Dividend

The annual general meeting further resolved to approve the Board’s proposal for a dividend of SEK 4.10 per share, and that the remaining profits be carried forward to next year.

Acquisition and divestment of the Bank’s own shares

The annual general meeting voted in favour of the Board’s proposal to authorise the Board to resolve on the acquisition and divestment of class A and/or B shares in Handelsbanken, with this authorisation valid until the annual general meeting in 2022. The maximum acquisition that may be made is 120 million shares. The number may be adjusted following certain company actions.

The annual general meeting also voted in favour of the Board’s proposal that, during the period until the next annual general meeting, the Bank, for its securities operations, shall have the right to acquire its own ordinary class A and/or B shares for the Bank’s trading book. The holding of such shares shall not at any time exceed two per cent of all shares in Handelsbanken.

Authorisation for the Board to resolve on issuance of convertible tier 1 capital instruments

The annual general meeting resolved to authorise the Board to issue convertibles during the period until the annual general meeting in 2022, in accordance with the Board’s proposal. The number of shares that may be added upon conversion may not exceed 198,002,849. The number may be adjusted following certain company actions.

Other resolutions

The annual general meeting approved the Board’s proposal for amendments to the Articles of Association and to the guidelines for remuneration to executive officers at Handelsbanken.
 

The annual general meeting further resolved to appoint Ernst & Young AB as auditor of certain foundations without their own management.

Minutes of meeting

Minutes of the annual general meeting will be available on the Bank’s website http://www.handelsbanken.com/agm within two weeks from today’s date.

 

For further information, please contact:

Pär Boman, Chairman of the Board

Tel: +46 (0)8–22 92 20

Martin Wasteson, Head of Legal

Tel: +46 (0)8-701 14 61, e-mail: mawa50@handelsbanken.se

This information is of the type that Handelsbanken is obliged to make public pursuant to Nasdaq Stockholm's Issuer Rules. The information was submitted for publication at 17.15 CET on March 24, 2021. For more information about Handelsbanken, see: www.handelsbanken.com