The Nomination Committee proposal to Swedbank Annual General Meeting 2020
• The Nomination Committee of Swedbank proposes re-election of the present Board members Göran Persson, Bo Magnusson, Kerstin Hermansson, Josefin Lindstrand and Anna Mossberg.
• Election of Bo Bengtsson, Göran Bengtsson, Hans Eckerström, Bengt Erik Lindgren and Biljana Pehrsson.
• Bodil Eriksson, Mats Granryd, Bo Johansson and Magnus Uggla have declined re-election.
• Göran Persson is proposed as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The Nomination Committee proposes that the number of Board members is increased from nine to ten, of which six men and four women, compared to the decision of the Extra General Meeting in June 2019.
Bo Bengtsson and Göran Bengtsson have long experience from the finance industry. Bo Bengtsson is currently CEO of the Savings bank Sparbanken Skåne and Göran Bengtsson is currently CEO of the Savings bank Falkenbergs Sparbank.
Hans Eckerström has a background as partner in Nordic Capital, and is currently Chairman of Nobia AB and member of the Board of Nordstjernan AB and Thule Group AB.
Bengt Erik Lindgren has many years of experience from Board work in a variety of banks. He has held the position as deputy CEO of Swedbank during 2005-2010, deputy CEO of Föreningssparbanken during 2001-2005 and CEO of Spintab during 2000 - 2001. Bengt Erik Lindgren today holds the position as Board member of Länsförsäkringar Bank AB and Humlegården Fastigheter AB. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Prevas AB.
Biljana Pehrsson has an extensive experience from the real estate industry and she currently holds the position as CEO of Kungsleden AB.
Proposed members’ independence according to the Swedish Corporate Governance Code
The Nomination Committee considers all proposed Board members, except Bo Bengtsson and Göran Bengtsson, to be independent in relation to the bank and the bank’s management. The Nomination Committee considers all proposed Board members to be independent in relation to the bank’s major shareholders.
All who have been nominated for new election intends to, no later than in connection with the Annual General Meeting, leave assignments that will not be compatible with their roles in the Swedbank Board of Directors, and also to leave the number of assignments to be compliant to regulations and to be able to fulfil their assignment for Swedbank in the best possible way.
The Chair of the Nomination Committee, Lennart Haglund, comments:
“The Nomination Committee has interviewed all board members about the events of the past year and how this has been handled by the bank. A number of members announced at an early stage that they were not available for re-election. The Nomination Committee believes that the Bank's Board of Directors acted forcefully during the year in order to resolve deficiencies in the Bank's work to prevent money laundering and to lay the foundation for restoring confidence in the Bank.
The Nomination Committee’s proposal of Board members, re-election of five members and election of five new members, gives Swedbank a Board with deep knowledge of the banking industry as well as large knowledge about the challenges and opportunities that the banking industry is facing. Göran Persson is proposed as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and it is proposed that the Board of Directors appoints Bo Magnusson as deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.
We want to thank Bodil Eriksson, Mats Granryd, Bo Johansson and Magnus Uggla for their work in the Board, and their contribution to solving the bank’s problems in a satisfactory manner, especially during 2019”
The Nomination Committee proposes that the lawyer Wilhelm Lüning is appointed Chairman of the Annual General Meeting 2020.
The Nomination Committee consists of the following members: Lennart Haglund, Chairman, (Sparbankernas Ägareförening), Ylva Wessén (Folksam), Charlotte Rydin (Alecta), Anders Oscarsson (AMF and AMF Investmentfunds), Peter Karlström (Sparbanksstiftelserna) and Göran Persson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swedbank AB (publ).
The entire proposal of the Nomination Committee, including proposal on remuneration for Board members and external auditors, will be included in the Annual General Meeting notice and also be available on Swedbank’s website.
Swedbank AB’s Annual General Meeting will take place on the 26 March 2020 at Cirkus, Djurgårdsslätten 43-45, Stockholm.
For further information, please contact:
Lennart Haglund, Chair of the Nomination Committee, telephone: +46 70 557 51 29
This is an English translation of Swedbank’s press release titled “Swedbanks valberedning - förslag till årsstämman 26 mars 2020” that was published on 29 January, 2020 at 08.00 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 168 branches in Sweden and 98 branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in other Nordic countries, the US and China. Read more at www.swedbank.com