Swedbank dismisses CEO as money laundering scandal mounts
Swedbank
kr0.00
16:46 25/04/24
Swedbank has fired its chief executive and president, as mounting allegations about a potential money laundering scandal engulf the Scandinavian bank.
Danske Bank
kr87.25
18:16 26/06/09
In a statement, Swedbank chair Lars Idermark said: “The developments during the past days have created enormous pressure for the bank. Therefore the board has decided to dismiss Birgitte Bonnesen from her position.
“That that said, Birgitte Bonnesen has during her three years as chief executive made an important contribution by creating a leading digital bank with a physical presence.”
On Wednesday, Swedbank was raided by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, which is investigating the bank for alleged fraud and breach of insider information laws. US regulators are also looking at the bank.
It has been alleged that the bank has been used to move billions of dollars out of Russian, similar to a €200bn scandal at the Estonian operations of Denmark’s Danske Bank last year, which caused its chief executive Thomas Borgen to resign.
Bonnesen has long expressed confidence in Swedbank's anti-money laundering procedures, maintaining that any suspicious transactions were being reported to the authorities.
But shareholders have become increasingly concerned at way the bank is handling the mounting scandal, and Bonnesen had expected to face a grilling by angry investors at Thursday’s annual general meeting in Stockholm. The announcement of her dismissal came minutes before the meeting begun.
Chief financial officer Anders Karlsson has been appointed acting president and chief executive, while the search for Bonnesen’s permanent replacement gets underway.
By 1115 GMT, shares in Swedbank were off 4% at 148SEK. The shares were trading at well over 200SEK in early February, before the allegations surfaced.