Report
Expert Corporate Governance Service (ECGS)
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Swedbank - EGM 19 June 2019

In general, Swedbank is in compliance with the Swedish regulations relating to the organisation and procedures of the EGM.

Background

On February 20, 2019, the Swedish public television service (SVT) released an episode of an investigative television programme ³Uppdrag granskning´ alleging that Swedbank may have been used for money laundering over a 12-year period, including transactions linked to the scandal-hit Danske Bank A/S. Documents seen by SVT showed significant transactions between Danske Bank and Swedbank during the same period, including accounts belonging to companies without contact information or telephone numbers, many sharing the same address. In addition, the Company has thousands more customers who have accounts in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but are registered overseas, including in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands and Belize. In response, Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA) has launched an investigation into Swedbank together with the equivalent authority in Estonia, since many of the suspicious transactions took place in the Baltic states.

Under ITEMS 8a-8c, the (re-)election of part of the board of directors is proposed. In view of the background above, ECGS welcomes the proposed re-shuffle of the Company's board of directors. Accordingly, ECGS recommends to vote in favour of all proposed new nominees.

Finally, ITEMS 10-12 are proposals made by shareholders. ECGS recommends a vote in

favour of ITEM 10 but does not support the other two proposals.

Underlying
Swedbank AB Class A

Swedbank provides financial services and products in its home markets of Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Co. has four segments: Swedish Banking, which is responsible for all its Swedish customers except corporates and financial institutions; Large Corporates and Institutions, which is responsible for large corporates, financial institutions and banks as well as for trading and capital market products; Baltic Banking, which operates in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and Group Functions and Other. At Dec 31 2013, Co. had 731 branches and 1,396 automated teller machines. Also as of such date, Co. had total assets of SEK1.82 trillion and deposits of SEK620.85 billion.

Provider
Proxinvest
Proxinvest

Founded in 1995, Proxinvest is an independent proxy firm supporting the engagement and proxy analysis processes of investors. Proxinvest mission is to analyse corporate governance practices and resolutions proposed at general meetings of listed firms.

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Analysts
Expert Corporate Governance Service (ECGS)

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