Swedbank welcomes the Swedish central bank's support for Estonia's financial system

Press Release February 27, 2009

Swedbank welcomes the Swedish central bank's support for Estonia's financial
system 

Swedbank welcomes the Swedish central bank's, Riksbanken, precautionary
arrangement to secure financial stability and to promote confidence in the
Estonian financial system. 

Under the agreement, Eesti Pank may borrow up to SEK 10 billion against Estonian
kroons. The precautionary arrangement enhances the capabilities of Eesti Pank to
provide liquidity under the currency board arrangement.

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

Swedbank is the leading bank in Estonia and is committed to remain so. The
recent turmoil on the financial markets doesn´t change this view. 

“As proof of our long-term commitment to Estonia 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 9.4 million retail customers and 600,000
corporate customers with 419 branches in Sweden, 278 branches in the Baltic
countries and another 215 branches in Ukraine. The group is also present in
Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Luxembourg, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai,
St. Petersburg and Tokyo. As of December 2008 the group had total assets of SEK
1,812 billion and approximately 21,000 employees. For more information about
Swedbank, please visit www.swedbank.com.