Swedbank welcomes intention to support Latvia's financial system

Press release December 18, 2008

Swedbank welcomes intention to support Latvia's financial system 

Swedbank welcomes the intention of the Latvian government and the National Bank
of Latvia to co-operate with EU and the IMF in order to support and restore
confidence in the Latvian financial system. 


The Baltic states and the Nordic countries have strong historical ties and the
regions are increasingly becoming more integrated.  Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
and Sweden are today Swedbank's home markets.

“We have been present in Latvia for over ten years now and we have a strategic
long-term commitment towards Latvia. Latvia and the Baltic markets are a key
part of our operations today and in the future. Swedbank will continue to
support the Latvian financial system, support our customers, develop our Latvian
subsidiary and make sure it is adequately capitalised, says Jan Lidén, CEO of
Swedbank. 

Swedbank's aim is to be the leading bank in Latvia. The recent turmoil on the
financial markets will not change this view. 

“As proof of our long-term commitment to Latvia and to the Baltic countries in
whole we recently changed our name and brand from Hansabank to Swedbank. The
change is also the last step in Swedbank's global rebranding and a landmark in
the 190-year history of Swedbank”, says Carl Eric Stålberg, Chair of Swedbank
Board.  
Further information, please contact:
Thomas Backteman, Acting Head of Communications & IR, Swedbank, phone: +46 730
98 14 17
Anna Sundblad, Press Manager, Swedbank, phone: +46 70 321 39 95



Swedbank's vision is to be the leading financial institution in the markets
where we are present. Swedbank has 9 million retail customers and 600,000
corporate customers with more than 459 branches in Sweden, 300 branches in the
Baltic countries and another 190 branches in Ukraine. The group is also present
in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Luxembourg, Marbella, Moscow, New York,
Oslo, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Tokyo. As of December 2007 the group had
total assets of SEK 1,600 billion and approximately 22,000 employees. For more
information about Swedbank, please visit www.swedbank.com.