The holding company will become owner of the current subsidiary banks in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
“The changes aim to ensure a simple and transparent governance structure with clear decision making that supports the bank's long-term strategy in all four of Swedbank’s home markets – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden,” Jens Henriksson, President and CEO of Swedbank, was quoted in the release.
The holding company will be registered in Rīga, Latvia, while having employees from all Swedbank’s home markets.
The holding company will create a sub-consolidated group within Single Supervisory Mechanism and serve as a legal counterpart to relevant authorities, in addition to the local subsidiary banks.
The holding company will be 100% owned by Swedbank AB, and it will be the sole owner of Swedbank subsidiary banks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The governance changes will not have any impact on Swedbank’s customers, according to the release.
Swedbank Group's decision to establish a holding company in Latvia was welcomed by the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FKTK). According to FKTK, this is a proof of consistency and growth potential of the Latvian financial sector environment.
“This strategic decision is very important for Latvia, as it shows that the huge work invested in Latvia's financial sector has resulted in the fact that international trust and reputation has been restored. We have been able to create a Latvian financial environment with clear operational conditions, high quality requirements and opportunities for development,” said Santa Purgaile, chair of the FKTK.
Swedbank is the leading bank in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania employing 6,000 people and serving more than 3 million individuals and 280,000 companies.
