Handelsbanken has repurchased 21.5 million shares to date

Handelsbanken has repurchased 21.5 million shares to date Up to 31 December 2000 inclusive, Handelsbanken has repurchased 21 505 900 shares comprising 1 664 400 Class A shares and 19 841 500 Class B shares. The total number of shares in Handelsbanken is 714 746 940. Background On 14 April 2000, the Annual General Meeting and Board of Svenska Handelsbanken decided to repurchase 50 million of the Bank's class A and/or class B ordinary shares during the period until the next Annual General Meeting in 2001. The acquisitions are carried out on the OM Stockholm Exchange at the market price prevailing at the time of acquisition, and for a maximum of SEK 4 billion. For further information please contact: Lennart Francke, Head of Accounting and Control, tel +46 8-22 92 20, e-mail: lefr01@handelsbanken.se Bengt Ragnå, Head of Investor Relations, tel +46 8-701 12 16, e-mail: bera02@handelsbanken.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/04/20010104BIT00520/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/04/20010104BIT00520/bit0002.pdf