Comment on recent developments

Following today’s developments, Swedbank’s President and CEO Birgitte Bonnesen wishes to make the following statements.

General comment

“This has been a very tough day for Swedbank, our employees and our shareholders. Given the current situation, and in my role as CEO, I want to clarify that I will do everything in my power to handle the current situation. We act in an industry dependent on trust and I sincerely understand the severity of the situation”, says Birgitte Bonnesen, President and CEO, Swedbank.

On the ongoing preliminary investigation by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority (EBM)

“Today’s initiated activity by EBM is part of the authority’s already communicated preliminary investigation. The official offence refers to unlawful disclosure of inside information and aggravated swindling. As communicated before, and at this point in time, no individual or legal entity has been served suspicion of a crime. We will cooperate with EBM and we await the conclusions of the authority”, says Birgitte Bonnesen, President and CEO, Swedbank.

On the media reports on communication with authorities

“We have today seen serious accusations in the media, for example accusations that we have misled U.S. authorities. Swedbank believes that it has been truthful and accurate in its communications with all government authorities.  We will continue to cooperate with all relevant authorities in connection with this matter”, says Birgitte Bonnesen, President and CEO, Swedbank.

For further information:

Gabriel Francke Rodau, Head of Group Communication, Swedbank, phone: +46 701 44 89 66

Gregori Karamouzis, Head of Investor Relations, Swedbank, tel: + 46 72 740 63 38

This announcement involves the disclosure of inside information

Swedbank AB (publ) is required to disclose this information pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse, the Swedish Securities Markets Act (2007:528), the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act (1991:980) and the regulatory framework of Nasdaq Stockholm. This information was sent to be published on 27 March 2019 at 20:15 CET.

Swedbank encourages a sound and sustainable financial situation for the many households and businesses. As a leading bank in the home markets of Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Swedbank offers a wide range of financial services and products. Swedbank has over 7 million retail customers and around 600 000 corporate customers and organisations with 186 branches in Sweden and 125 branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in other Nordic countries, the US and China. As of 31 December, 2018 the group had total assets of SEK 2 246 billion.  Read more at www.swedbank.com