Further internationalisation of the Board of Swedbank
The Nomination Committee of Swedbank has proposed Gail Buyske and Simon F.D. Ellis as new members of the Board of Directors of Swedbank. The Nomination Committee proposes the re-election of Chair Carl Eric Stålberg, Ulrika Francke, Berith Hägglund-Marcus, Göran Johnsson, Anders Nyblom and Caroline Sundewall. Thomas Johansson and Mart Laar have declined re-election.
“We are pleased to nominate Gail Buyske and Simon Ellis as new members of the Board,” says Allan Karlsson, Chair of the Nomination Committee. “We are fully convinced that with their extensive experience from the international banking industry, both will contribute to Swedbank’s development. Furthermore, Ms Buyske’s experience from former Eastern Europe combined with Mr Ellis’ in-depth knowledge of international corporations and investment banking, will contribute to the further development of Swedbank.”
Gail Buyske, from the USA, is a financial sector advisor working in Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and the USA. Between 1998 and 2001 she served as the EBRD’s Financial Institutions Country Coordinator in Moscow. During that period and through 2005 she also chaired the Supervisory Board of KMB Bank, a Russian bank for micro and SME clients founded by the EBRD. Most recently, Ms Buyske, among other assignments, has held several non-executive directorships for banks in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, in addition to consulting on financial sector development issues for the World Bank, EBRD and other development organizations. Her career started at Chase Manhattan Bank, where during 1979-1991 she worked on debt transactions and risk management in the United States, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Gail Buyske has a Ph.D in political science from Columbia University and is fluent in Russian and French.
Simon Ellis, from the UK, has spent 28 years in international banking, primarily in Corporate Finance. Until recently he was with Morgan Stanley as a Managing Director, based in London; previously he was with Goldman Sachs for 10 years. He has had direct experience in the United States, in Scandinavia, the Benelux as well as the UK, and has advised companies in the Energy and Utilities and Media and Telecommunications sectors, and in particular, in Financial Services. Currently, Simon Ellis is a member of the Board of Hakluyt. The firm provides specialist business intelligence and research to corporate and institutional clients worldwide. Simon Ellis has a BA/MA in Modern History from Oxford University.
The 2007 Annual General Meeting of Swedbank will be held in Stockholm on April 27, 2007.
The members of the Nomination Committee:
Ulf Christoffersson: Representing the independent savings banks and the Swedish Savings Banks Organisation
Björn Franzon: Representing the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund
Sarah McPhee: Representing AMF Pension
Allan Karlsson: Representing Sparbanksstiftelsernas Nya Förvaltningsaktiebolag and the Savings Banks Foundations
Carl Eric Stålberg: Chair of the Board of Swedbank
Download photos on Gail Buyske and Simon F.D Ellis below.
For further information:
Carl Eric Stålberg, Chair of the Board, phone + 46 8 58591296
Allan Karlsson, Chair of the Nomination Committee, phone +46 705 143 314
Swedbank’s vision is to be the leading financial institution in the markets where we are present. Swedbank has 8.9 million retail customers and 459,000 corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. In Sweden the group has more than 470 branches, with another 290 branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Luxembourg, Marbella, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Tokyo. As of December 2006 the group had total assets of SEK 1,400 billion and approximately 17,000 employees. For more information about Swedbank, please visit www.swedbank.com.