Reinforcement for international expansion

Handelsbanken's growth outside Sweden has increased significantly in
the past few years. For this reason, a special position is being set
up to support a continued high rate of expansion.

M Johan Widerberg, Executive Vice President and currently head of
Handelsbanken's regional bank in Western Sweden, will gradually
transfer to this new assignment during the next few months.

His work will include being a member of the boards of the regional
banks in Great Britain and Finland, and Handelsbanken's operations in
the Baltic countries and Russia. He will also be chairman of the
board of Handelsbanken Capital Markets.

For the past eleven years, M Johan Widerberg has been head of one of
Handelsbanken's largest regions: Western Sweden, with a total of 77
branches. Under his leadership, the regional bank has more than
quadrupled its profits and total assets."Together with his successful branch managers, M Johan Widerberg has
significantly advanced Handelsbanken's positions in the west of
Sweden. He is also one of the most experienced bankers we have; he
knows the Bank and how we work - so he was the obvious choice for
this new position," says Pär Boman, CEO of Handelsbanken.

M Johan Widerberg has no plans to completely move away from Göteborg,
the "capital" of western Sweden."No, this is where my roots are, and I will continue to live here. I
also have many interesting board positions and other commitments in
the business community in western Sweden and I believe I will be able
to continue making a contribution in various ways," says Mr
Widerberg.

He expects to be able to hand over as head of Handelsbanken's
regional bank in Western Sweden at the end of the year.


For further information, please contact:
Pär Boman, group chief executive, tel: +46 8 22 92 20
M Johan Widerberg, head of Handelsbanken Western Sweden, tel:+46 31
77 48 000
Johan Lagerström, press officer, tel:  +46 8 701 1395, mobile: +46 70
265 80 14