Nordea

Nordea old logo (2000–2016)

Nordea Bank Abp,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> commonly referred to as Nordea, is a Nordic<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> financial services group operating in northern Europe with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea".<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The bank is the result of the successive mergers and acquisitions of the Finnish, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian banks of Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unidanmark, and Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse that took place between 1997 and 2001.<ref name=":1" /> The Nordic countries are considered Nordea's home market, having finalised the sales of their Polish bank in 2014, Baltic operations in 2019<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> and completed the exit from Russia in early 2022 following a 2019 decision to close the business there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nordea is listed on Nasdaq Nordic exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Stockholm and Nordea ADR is listed in the US.<ref name=":2" />

Nordea serves 9.3 million private and 530,000 active corporate customers, including 2,650 large corporates and institutions.<ref name=":2" /> Nordea's credit portfolio is distributed across Finland (21%), Denmark (26%), Norway (21%), and Sweden (30%).<ref name=":2" /> There are four Business Areas (BAs) at Nordea, Personal Banking, Business Banking, Large Corporates & Institutions, and Asset & Wealth Management. Assets under Management (AUM) were €411 billion in December 2021.<ref name=AR>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nordea has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, first as the Finnish arm of the Stockholm-based group and since 2017 as a financial holding company. As a consequence, it is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The company has been embroiled in numerous scandals involving moneylaundering and tax evasion. In 2024, Danish authorities indicted the bank for the most extensive violation by a bank of Denmark’s anti-money laundering act in the country's history.<ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Nordea's roots date to 1820 and Sparekassen for Kjøbenhavn og Omegn in Denmark, and a complete family tree of around 300 banks including some of the oldest banks in the Nordic region.<ref name=":1" /> This includes Wermlandsbanken of Sweden (founded 1832), Christiania Kreditkasse of Norway (founded 1848) and Union Bank of Finland (UBF) of Finland (founded 1862). Between 1997 and 2001, the Finnish, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian banks of Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unidanmark, and Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse merged into the present day Nordea.

Merita Group was formed in 1995, when UBF and Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) merged.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> UBF was established, in 1862, at a time when there were no Limited Liability Companies Act or banking laws in Finland.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> Therefore, it was modelled after banking standards in other countries. UBF eventually merged with rivals Nordiska Aktiebanken in 1919 and Helsingin Osakepankki (HOP) in 1986. KOP was originally founded in 1890 with its first branch at Aleksanterinkatu 17, in Helsinki.<ref name=":3" /> By 1913, KOP had become the second largest commercial bank in Finland. The two banks, KOP and UBF, competed for the title of the largest bank in Finland for decades.<ref name=":3" /> KOP suffered large credit losses as a result of the Finnish banking crisis in the early 1990s. On 1 April 1995 it became a subsidiary (51%) of Merita Group in a direct share issue.

Nordbanken was formed in 1986 by a merger of two smaller private local banks, Uplandsbanken and Sundsvallsbanken, though it was the product of numerous original institutions.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> The oldest of the original Nordbanken constituent banks was Wermlandsbanken, which was founded in 1832. Nordbanken came under Swedish government control in 1992, following the Swedish banking crisis in the early 1990s,<ref name=":4" /> with the sale of its non-performing loans to the Swedish government and significant reduction in personnel.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> Bad debts were transferred to the asset-management company Securum, which sold off the assets.<ref name=":5" /> At the time, the approach of establishing "good" and "bad" banks composed of corresponding assets was a novel resolution approach.

Merita Group merged with Nordbanken in 1997 forming MeritaNordbanken.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Solo internet-based banking operation of MeritaNordbanken was a global pioneer and leader providing mobile and internet banking access in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bank reached 1 million internet banking customers during 1999 with 3 million log-ins and 3.7 million payments per month.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> Housing loans via Solo were introduced in 1999.<ref name=":6" /> MeritaNordbanken agreed to buy Unidanmark, Denmark's second-largest bank, in early 2000 creating the Nordic region's biggest financial institution with €186 billion in assets.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref> The merged group had a banking market share of 20% in Sweden, 25% in Denmark and 40% in Finland and a combined workforce of 28,050.<ref name=":7" /> By end 2000, MeritaNordbanken had further merged with Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse of Norway, a process started in 1999 and changed its name to Nordea.<ref name=":6" /> Christiania Bank had also been impacted severely during the banking crisis in the early 1990s, with Nordea acquiring the bank from the Norwegian Government Bank Investment Fund with a 35% share.<ref name=":4" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nordea expanded into Poland, the Baltics and Russia in the early 2000s, with 2% of total revenues from the Poland and Baltics region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nordea divested its Polish banking operations in 2013, with the sale to PKO Bank Polski for €694 million but retains a presence in Poland via operations and IT units supporting the Nordic banks.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By end 2014, lending in the Baltics was €8.2 billion and in Russia €4.5 billion.<ref name=":10" /> During the period 2013-2017 exposure to the Russian market was reduced by 63%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, Luminor was formed by a merger of Nordea's and DNB's operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania creating the third largest Baltic regional bank with assets of €15 billion and a market share of 16.4%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> Luminor was sold to Blackstone, with Nordea and DNB retaining each initially a 20% share.<ref name=":11" /> However, the full divestment was completed in 2019.<ref name=":2" /> Exit from the Russian, Baltic and Polish markets were part of Nordea's de-risking strategy, which also included reduced exposures to some sectors (e.g. Shipping, Oil & Offshore and Agriculture in Denmark).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nordea was one of the Nordic banks, including Danske Bank, SEB and Swedbank, allegedly involved in the money laundering scandal, involving ex-Soviet states, that emerged in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nordea announced plans to move its corporate headquarters from Stockholm, Sweden to Helsinki, Finland in September 2017.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref> The re-domiciliation of Nordea to Finland put it within the supervision of the European Central Bank and within the European Union's banking union.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":12" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2018, Nordea completed the move of its corporate headquarters to Helsinki, Finland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Historical performance, ratios and key figures for Nordea 1999-2023
Year	Share Price (€, year-end)	Total Assets (€ billion)	Return on Equity (%)	Tier 1 Capital Ratio (%)	Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio (%), excluding Basel 1 floor
1999	5.84	186	18.0	9.0
2000	8.10	224	16.1	6.8
2001	5.97	242	13.8	7.3
2002	4.20	250	7.5	7.1
2003	5.95	262	12.3	7.3
2004	7.43	276	15.7	7.3
2005	8.79	326	18.0	6.8
2006	11.67	347	22.9	7.1
2007	11.42	389	19.7	7.0	7.5
2008	5.00	474	15.3	7.4	8.5
2009	7.10	508	11.3	10.2	10.3
2010	8.16	580	11.5	9.8	10.3
2011	5.98	716	11.1	10.1	11.2
2012	7.24	677	11.6	11.2	13.1
2013	9.78	630	11.0		14.9
2014	9.68	669	11.5		15.7
2015	10.15	647	12.2		16.5
2016	10.60	616	12.3		18.4
2017	10.09	582	9.5		19.5
2018	7.27	551	9.7		15.5
2019	7.24	555	5.0		16.4
2020	6.67	552	7.1		17.1
2021	10.79	570	11.2		17.1
2022	10.03	595	11.8		16.4
2023	11.23	585	16.9		17.0
2024	10.50	623	16.7		15.8

Performance and ownership

Nordea’s market capitalisation was €36.8 billion at the end of 2024, making it the seventh largest company in the Nordic region and among the 15 largest European financial services groups.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Between 2000 – when Nordea was formed by the merger of MeritaNordbanken and Unidanmark – and 2024, the share price of Nordea appreciated by 159%, outperforming the STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index (-37%).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At the end of 2024, Nordea had more than 600,000 shareholders. Nordea’s 10 largest shareholders were:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

BlackRock, 5.1%
Norges Bank, 5.0%
Nordea-fonden, 4.4%
The Vanguard Group, 3.9%
Cevian Capital, 3.8%
Alecta Tjänstepension, 2.1%
Swedbank Robur Funds, 2.0%
SEB Funds, 1.3%
Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, 1.1%
Nordea Funds, 1.1%

Business areas

There are four Business Areas (BAs) at Nordea, Personal Banking, Business Banking, Large Corporates & Institutions, and Asset & Wealth Management.

Scandals

Nordea was the subject of an online phishing scam in 2007. The company estimated 8 million kr ($1.1 million) was stolen.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Customers were targeted over a period of 15 months with phishing emails containing a trojan horse.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nordea refunded affected customers.<ref name=":0" />

The largest financial group in the Nordic region, Nordea was, despite warnings from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) active in using offshore companies in tax havens according to the Panama papers.<ref name="mordea">Template:Cite web</ref> Other Swedish banks were mentioned in the documents, but mention of Nordea occurred 10,902 times and the second-most mentioned bank has 764 matches.<ref name="SvdVeta3">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, Nordea asked Mossack Fonseca to change documents retroactively so that three Danish customers power of attorney documents had been in force since 2010.<ref name="mordea" /> Nordea bank loaned billions of euros to shipping companies that own vessels in secrecy jurisdictions such as Bermuda, Cyprus, Panama, BVI, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man. In the Paradise Papers, Nordea was shown to have lent a significant amount of money to customers based in tax havens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a consequence of the leaked documents, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) stated on 4 April 2016 that it had started an investigation into the conduct of Nordea.

The Nordea section in Luxembourg, between the years 2004 and 2014, founded nearly 400 offshore companies in Panama and the British Virgin Islands for its customers.<ref name="mordea"/> The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) pointed out that there are "serious deficiencies" in how Nordea monitors money laundering, and gave the bank two warnings. In 2015, Nordea paid the largest possible fine - over 5 million EUR.<ref name="mordea" /> Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, said in 2016 that he was very critical of the conduct of Nordea and its role, and said: "They are on the list of shame too".<ref name="GpSkams">Template:Cite web</ref> The Swedish minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson characterized the conduct of Nordea as "a crime" and "totally unacceptable".<ref name="local-nordea">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="yle-nordea">Template:Cite web</ref> The director for Nordea Private banking Thorben Sanders admits that before 2009 they did not screen for customers that tried to evade tax. "At the end of 2009 we decided that our bank should not be a means of tax evasion" says Thorben Sanders.<ref name="mordea" /> Nordea CEO Casper von Koskull stated that he was disappointed with the shortcomings within Nordea's operating principles, saying that "this cannot be tolerated".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2013, Politiken, a Danish newspaper, revealed that Nordea's Copenhagen branch was instrumental in establishing approximately 100 offshore companies for Russian and other nationals, despite warnings about suspicious activities. In 2024, the Danish authorities indicted Nordea for violating anti-money laundering laws by allowing $3.7 billion of suspicious transactions by the Russian clients. According to the Danish authorities, it was most extensive moneylaundering ever committed by a financial company in the country.<ref name=":13" />

In March 2019, public service broadcasting company, Yle, aired a program that revealed money laundering allegations against Nordea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company was the biggest Nordic lender allegedly involved in the multi-million-dollar money laundering scheme, according to Bloomberg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2024, Nordea Bank was taken to court in Denmark over allegations of failing to prevent money laundering linked to Russian clients. The charges stem from transactions worth €3.8 billion, where Nordea is accused of neglecting proper oversight and ignoring red flags. Despite setting aside €95 million for potential fines, the actual penalty could be significantly higher, possibly approaching $1 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2024, Nordea agreed to pay $35 million to settle a money-laundering investigation by the New York State Department of Financial Services, linked to the Panama Papers scandal. The probe revealed the bank's failure to prevent illegal activities, including inadequate screening of clients from 2008 to 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Subsidiaries

File:Nordea stockholm building (24856762545).jpg

Nordea's Swedish HQ in Stockholm, Sweden.

File:Nordea, Mariehamn, 2019 (01).jpg

Nordea's office in Mariehamn, Åland

Following a major structural reorganisation, Nordea consolidated its Nordic operations into branches of the parent company. The following is a list of former subsidiaries and other historical entities.

Nordea Bank Abp (Finland) – headquartered in Helsinki

Former Subsidiaries (now branches of Nordea Bank Abp)

Denmark – formerly Nordea Bank Danmark A/S
Norway – formerly Nordea Bank Norge ASA
Sweden – formerly Nordea Bank AB

Divested or Closed Entities

Nordea Bank Polska S.A. (Sold in 2013)
Nordea Bank Latvia (Sold in 2017)
Nordea Bank Lithuania (Sold in 2017)
Nordea Bank Russia (closed in 2021)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nordic headquarters

Swedish headquarters in Stockholm

Swedish headquarters in Stockholm
Danish headquarters in Copenhagen

Danish headquarters in Copenhagen
Norwegian headquarters in Oslo

Norwegian headquarters in Oslo
The former Norwegian headquarters in Oslo

The former Norwegian headquarters in Oslo

References

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External links

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