The Board of Directors

The Board of Directors prioritises its strategic, standards setting and controlling role. The Board of Directors' duties hence include establishing strategies for the operations, both for business-related issues and for risk issues, setting goals and following up on them, etc. The strategies and goals are reviewed annually.

The organisation and methodologies of the Board of Directors are efficient and are structured in accordance with current corporate governance principles. There are currently three committees within the Board, namely, the compensation committee and the credit and audit committees.

The rules of procedure for the Board of Directors regulate what the various committees do and whether they are authorised to make decisions. The credit committee is the only committee authorised to make decisions - the others are drafting committees. The Board issues policies and a number of instructions. Other necessary instructions are established by the President or by people in a capacity in which they are authorised to establish instructions.

The Board receives regular reports detailing the Group’s results and risks and the way in which they have developed, together with reports on external factors affecting the operations.

The Board carries out ongoing evaluations of both its own performance and that of the President. The Board sets quantitative and qualitative goals annually for the President - over and above financial goals - and evaluates the President’s performance on the basis thereof.

The Articles of Association state that the Board shall comprise - in addition to trade union members - a minimum of seven and a maximum of eleven Members, all of whom are elected for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. The President is not a Member of the Board but participates in Board Meetings.

Swedbank meets the Stock Exchange requirements with regard to the independence of the Board of Directors. The Board Members elected by the General Meeting, are independent of the company, with the exception of Carl Eric Stålberg.

Carl Eric Stålberg, Ulrika Francke and Gith Bengtsson attended all 16 Board meetings in 2007, Berit Hägglund-Marcus, Göran Johnsson, Anders Nyblom, Caroline Sundewall and Monica Hellström attended 15 meetings, Thomas Johansson* attended 5 meetings, Gail Buyske** and Simon Eliis** attended 9 meetings, Mart Laaar* attended 2 meetings.


* Resigned as Board member as of the 2007 AGM.
** Elected as Board member at the 2007 AGM.