Nordea develops the legal structure of the Group

Nordea develops the legal structure of the Group The Board of Directors of Nordea AB (publ) has decided to develop the legal structure of Nordea further to support the management structure and the reporting transparency of the Group. The banking subgroup will be completed, whereby Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, Merita Bank, Nordbanken and Unibank will be subsidiaries of Nordea Companies Finland (formerly MeritaNordbanken), which company will be transformed into a banking company, into which Merita Bank will be merged. The Asset Management and Investment Banking units of the four banks are brought together into separate subgroups under two parent companies domiciled in Sweden, directly and wholly owned by Nordea AB (publ). The General Insurance and Life Insurance and Pensions companies in the Nordea Group will create two separate subgroups under two parent companies domiciled in Denmark. It is estimated that the total implementation will take up to 18 months and will be executed without any material costs. "This will enhance management efficiency and promote development of the business operations. Nordea will now get an even more business-oriented and streamlined structure, well adapted to meet future business demands", says Thorleif Krarup, CEO of Nordea. For further information: Thorleif Krarup, Group CEO, +46 8 614 7901 Kari Suominen, Secretary to the Board, +358 501697 Torben Laustsen, Head of Group Identity and Communications, +45 3333 451 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/25/20010425BIT00990/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/25/20010425BIT00990/bit0002.pdf