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SWEDBANK

Swedbank ditches shareholder dividends

Swedbank has decided not to pay dividends to shareholders amidst ownership changes resulting in a state-owned credit agency become one of the bank’s major owners.

Published: 9 March 2009 11:52 CET
Swedbank ditches shareholder dividends

Following a weekend meeting, Swedbank’s board of directors opted to rescind a proposal to pay shareholders a dividend of 4.50 kronor ($0.49) per common share 2.40 kronor per preferred share.

“Our task is to ensure the best interests of the bank. This proposal would further strengthen our capital base by 2.9 billion kronor and increase the financial strength in challenging times. We are confident that this decision will be beneficial for our shareholders in the long term, said Swedbank board chairman Carl Eric Stålberg in a statement.

The development comes after Sparbanksstiftelserna, the Swedish savings bank foundation, was forced on Friday to give up a major stake in Swedbank because the value of the shares, which the bank foundation has used as collateral for a 1 billion kronor loan from the Folksam insurance company.

The move made Folksam Swedbank’s largest shareholder, controlling 14.6 percent of the bank’s shares, up from 9.6 percent.

Swedbank’s ownership shake up continued on Monday when the Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), which had extended around 500 million kronor in credit to Sparbanksstiftelserna, announced it was also converting the loan to shares, giving the state-owned credit agency a 3.3 percent stake in Swedbank.

“The Swedish Export Credit Corporation has the intention to act responsibly and in close consultation with its owner, the Swedish state, regarding the control of the shares in Swedbank,” SEK said in a statement.

The entry of SEK comes as part of a separate agreement struck on Sunday which gave Sparbanksstiftelserna’s lenders – Folksam, SEK, and another European bank, along with four other independent savings banks – to take over 90 out of 107 million Swedbank shares.

“As Folksam Liv now takes over the shares from the holding company we are doing this primarily because we are convinced it benefits our pension recipients,”

“It is both a good investment and it promotes a long and fruitful collaboration with the bank. We are also exercising our responsibility as a long-term and stable owner of Swedbank,” said Folksam CEO Anders Sundström in a statement on Monday.

By ditching the dividend payment, Swedbank adds 0.4 percentage points to its total capital ratio, bringing it from 14.8 to 15.2 percent.

The new dividend proposal was supported by owners representing more than 45 percent of the votes and capital in Swedbank.

The bank’s long term dividend policy remains unchanged, it said in a statement.

ECONOMY

Swedish bank’s IT fault puts customer accounts in the red

A technical problem at Sweden's Swedbank on Thursday night gave customers a nasty surprise, with their account balances inexplicably going negative, payments impossible, and Swish payments no longer working.

Published: 29 April 2022 10:54 CEST
Swedish bank's IT fault puts customer accounts in the red

By 11.30pm, more than 2,000 Swedbank customers had reported the fault to the site Downdetector, and the problem was still not solved by 17.00pm on Friday. 

“We have an ongoing IT disruption where certain customers see an incorrect balance on their accounts,” a message on the bank’s app read. “The reason is a planned update to our internal systems which went wrong. We apologise, of course, for that and are working as quickly as possible to fix the problem.” 

The Swish payment service has also been affected, with the service, which is owned collectively by Swedish banks, reporting on its site that there was a “technical disruption at Swedbank and Sparbank which might affect Swish payments from these banks”. 

Some Swedbank customers posted their negative account balances on Twitter, expressing shock at the incorrect figures. 

The disruption comes at the worst possible time for many Swedes. Many people are paid on the 25th of the month, meaning this Friday marks the start of the payday weekend. Many will have also scheduled their bill payments for this Friday. 

Marko Saric from Malmö saw his account balance drop by 1.2 million kronor, going half a million kronor into the red. 

“It’s just totally crazy,” he told SVT. “We were going to go out and shop for the weekend. It’s lovely weather and the kids want to go out, but we can’t use our card. We’ve got no cash. Everything is in the bank.” 

“You’re just completely blocked. Colleagues need to make emergency food parcels for you. It’s just crazy that something like this should happen.” 

In its statement, the bank assured customers that their money was “secure”, and that the bank still had the correct information on what their account balance should be. 

“Customers who feel that they have suffered economic damage as a result of the disruption should contact the bank,” the message said.

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