The first Swedish savings bank was founded in Gothenburg in 1820. In 1992, a number of local savings banks merged to create Sparbanken Sverige ("Savings Bank Sweden"). In 1995, this bank was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and in 1997, it merged with Föreningsbanken under the combined name FöreningsSparbanken (abbreviated FSB). During the late 2000s global financial crisis, Swedbank accepted government assistance due to its losses from loans made to neighboring Baltic economies.
On 8 September 2006, Föreningssparbanken AB changed its name to Swedbank AB. The name change took place in the afternoon local time, after the Swedish Companies Registration Office registered the changes in the company's articles of association. On the same date, the subsidiary AB Spintab changed its name to Swedbank Hypotek AB ("Swedbank Mortgage AB") and FöreningsSparbanken Jordbrukskredit AB changed its name to Swedbank Jordbrukskredit AB ("Swedbank Agricultural Credit AB"). Other subsidiaries will change their names at later dates.
In 2013 Swedbank closed its operations in Russia and sold its Ukrainian subsidiary.[4]
In 2019 Swedbank had 900,000 private and 130,000 corporate clients and a 60% market share of Estonia’s payments.[5]
Headquarters
The current Swedbank Headquarters was inaugurated in 2014 in Sundbyberg Municipality . The building was designed by 3XN.[6]
The Swedbank logo (1997—2006). FöreningsSparbanken was created in 1997 through a merger between Sparbanken and Föreningsbanken. The unusual corporate name and logo were compromises of the merger of two different corporate cultures.
Swedbank has close cooperation with about 60 local, but still independent, savings banks who chose not to join during the 1992 merger. These banks use FSB logos and customers have the same access to independent banks and branches belonging to FSB. Two relatively large independent savings banks, including the one in Skåne, have chosen not to cooperate with Swedbank and continue to use the logo used by Sparbanken before the merger with Föreningsbanken.
Together with the independent savings banks, Swedbank has branches all over Sweden. The bank has more than 16,000 employees across its operations in Sweden and abroad.[7] Jens Henriksson is president and CEO, while former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson is chairman.
Market position
Swedbank is one of the primary banks in Sweden, together with Nordea, Handelsbanken, and SEB. In 2001, a deal to merge Swedbank (then FSB) with SEB failed as the European Commission thought that the merged company would have had too dominant a position in the Swedish banking market. Today, Swedbank has 7 million private customers and 555 000 corporate customers.
Swedbank Latvia is the largest bank in both Estonia and Latvia.[8]
Regulatory issues
Money laundering
On 20 February 2019 Swedish broadcaster SVT revealed that Swedbank is under investigation for alleged link in money laundering scandal by Estonian authorities due to suspicious transactions through Danske Bank which is being investigated in Denmark, Estonia, Britain, France and the United States. Estonian authorities confirmed findings by SVT.[9] At least 40 billion Swedish crowns (£3.3 billion) had been transferred between accounts at Swedbank and Danske in the Baltics between 2007 and 2015, SVT's Uppdrag Granskning investigative programme reported.[10] Chief executive Birgitte Bonnesen was fired in March 2019 during the money laundering scandal[5] and her severance pay was cancelled. The bank's chairman Lars Idermark resigned the following month. Swedbank was subsequently fined a record SKr4bn ($380m) by Swedish and Estonian regulators.[11]
Sanction breaches
Swedbank Latvia AS was charged by OFAC in the USA with 386 apparent violations, totalling $3,312,120, breaching sanctions in relation to sending payments to Crimea through US Correspondent banks in 2015 and 2016, Swedbank settled, by agreeing in 2023 to pay $3,430,900 in penalties.[12]
Patron of the University of Latvia
Swedbank is a gold patron of the University of Latvia Foundation. Cooperation and support has been received from Swedbank since 2005 to promote the development of education in Latvia by donating to student events and activities. Major projects - Open Mind Research Fellowships 2007/2008. and 2008/2009. as well as annual support for the LU student festival "Aristotelis".[13]
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