Swedbank A

Legal Proceedings Report • Feb 25, 2021

Swedbank's Board of Directors has decided not to file claims for damages against former CEOs and Board members

Swedbank's Board of Directors has decided not to file claims for damages against former CEOs and Board members

The Board of Directors of Swedbank has decided not to file claims for damages

against its former Chairs and CEO for the time they were employed in the fiscal

year 2019. Last year, the Board of Directors decided not to initiate legal

proceedings against Birgitte Bonnesen and Michael Wolf for the fiscal years

prior to 2019. However, the Board did decide to cancel the severance agreement

with Birgitte Bonnesen.

The liability issues at Swedbank as relate to the former CEOs and Board members

were included in the report issued by the law firm Clifford Chance in March

2020. These issues have also been investigated by attorney and adjunct professor

of corporate law Carl Svernlöv, Baker McKenzie Advokatbyrå, and, as relates to

Birgitte Bonnesen, also by Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå. The conclusion from

these legal investigations, and the analyses of the legal circumstances and

other considerations, is that Swedbank should refrain from filing claims for

damages. The likelihood of success is considered extremely low.

"As regards Birgitte Bonnesen's liability during the first three months of 2019,

it is very difficult to prove a link between the chain of events and the

subsequent damages. I also conclude that there are no grounds on which to claim

damages from the former Chairs. The same applies to former Board members and to

Michael Wolf. Therefore, my overarching recommendation to Swedbank's Board of

Directors has been not to initiate any liability process," says Carl Svernlöv.

Attorney Biörn Riese who at the bank's request has reviewed the various

investigations, shares his conclusions.

The Board of Directors has also decided not to recommend the AGM to approve the

proposal submitted by the Swedish Shareholders' Association.

"Not to sue is the best decision for the bank and for the bank's owners. A

lawsuit would require a lot of time and resources over many years. The

management and employees need to direct all their efforts going forward," says

Swedbank's Chair of the Board, Göran Persson.

Attachment:

"The Swedish legal framework for asserting Swedbank's claims for accountability

against board members and CEOs and completed liability investigations". Biörn

Riese, Jurie.

The document is also available at

swedbank.com/newsroom (https://swedbank.com/newsroom.html)

The Chairman of the Board Göran Persson and attorney and adjunct Professor of

Corporate Law Carl Svernlöv will be available at a digital press meeting at

10:30 am CET on February 25. Please contact mattias.elander-forsgren@swedbank.se

for meeting details.

Contact:

Unni Jerndal, Head of Group Press Office, Swedbank, phone  +46 73 092 11 80

Annie Ho, Head of Investor Relations, Swedbank, phone +46 70 343 78 15

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 February 25, 2021 at 07:30 CET.

Swedbank encourages a sound and sustainable financial situation for the many

households and businesses. As a leading bank in our 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 159 branches in Sweden and 82

branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in other Nordic

countries, the US and China. Read more at www.swedbank.com