The chairman of the most famous and largest bank Swedbank, following his CEO, also left his post. The reason for this decision was a high-profile recent scandal related to money laundering. As it became known, the bank was accused of large frauds related to the passage of large amounts of money through the Baltic countries, mainly through its branches in Estonia. Therefore, the bank last week fired its chief executive Birgitte Bonnesen. He was followed by the dismissal of the chairman of the board Lars Idemark.
Lars Idemark said that close attention to his person by the press and the media negatively affects his reputation and is incompatible with his tenure as CEO of the Sodra group. As a result, after a meeting of groups of investors, it was decided that the best option for the bank's management would be resignation. As the head of the Swedish shareholders' association J.Olsson told the press recently, this scandal greatly undermined the reputation of the bank and significantly reduced the level of confidence in it on the part of many investors, therefore this decision to remove some members of the bank's board is quite a reasonable and correct step. Moreover, Mr. Olsson added that it would be better if Idemark resigned even before the shareholders' meeting.
Idemark and Bonnesen have recently been subjected to serious criticism and accusations, as a result of which representatives of four states were involved in the investigation into this scandal with money laundering: Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It should also be noted that recently, Swedbank shares have fallen in value by almost three times.
The bank's executive appointment committee is now looking for candidates for the role of director and chairman of the board. For these purposes, the bank plans to convene a special meeting of shareholders in the near future to confirm candidates for senior positions in the company and to promptly resolve this issue.
