Several media outlets in Sweden have reported about bonuses for employees at Swedish banks, including SEB. The media reports have suggested that SEB’s bonus payments for 2009 may exceed the bank’s net profit for the year and that there will be no dividend to shareholders. SEB’s management and board of directors have made no such decisions. However, top managers at the bank will receive no bonuses for 2009.
Last year was an exceptional year – characterised by the financial crisis, the difficult situation in the Baltic countries, a global discussion about bonuses and remuneration, demands for regulation and restrictions – with some of SEB’s units continuing to perform well.
The media reports are based on provisions SEB has reported for the first nine months of 2009, as well as projections made by financial analysts about the fourth quarter.
“The accounting provisions are partly made on general assumptions and does not necessarily reflect the actual incentive compensation for 2009," says SEB’s Chief Financial Officer Jan Erik Back.
“We have just started our work with the annual accounts for 2009 and will publish those on 10 February. No decisions have been made in either direction,” he says.
SEB has not made any decision regarding the dividend either. It is the bank’s shareholders that make this decision at the annual general meeting based on a suggestion from the board of directors, which is presented in the annual accounts.
SEB’s top managers in the Group Executive Committee will not receive any incentive compensation for 2009, inline with earlier statements from the bank.