Swedbank celebrates its 190th anniversary - a success story that has only just begun

Press Release October 28, 2010

Swedbank celebrates its 190th anniversary - a success story that has only just
begun

Two centuries ago, there were different time-zones in different cities in
Sweden. There were no railways and slaves still existed in the Swedish colonies.
More than 100 years were to elapse before Sweden obtained universal suffrage. In
that environment, the idea of a bank taking a responsible role in society was
born. Swedbank celebrates its 190th anniversary!


In the beginning of the 19th century, only every seventh child went to school.
Unemployment and alcoholism created widespread misery and poverty, and nearly
one in five inhabitants was on welfare. In that environment, an idea began to
take hold that even the smallest penny saved should be able to grow into a
buffer. Even those least privileged ought to have the opportunity to see their
savings grow. 

So today, exactly 190 years ago on the 28th of October, a young girl named
Carolina walked through the front doors at Västra Hamngatan 15 in Gothenburg,
accompanied by her brother and father, and opened Sweden's first savings account
in Sweden's first savings bank. She deposited 12 skilling banco. 

It was the 30-year-old entrepreneur Eduard Ludendorff, born in Stettin, Germany,
who had made his fortune as a wholesale merchant, who opened Swedbank's first
savings bank.

“I'm very humble to continue this tradition that has carried on for 190 years.
Our heritage is to welcome everyone as customers, and we continue to be open and
inclusive,” Michael Wolf, CEO of Swedbank, commented the anniversary. 

Michael Wolf continued: 

“Our focus is to promote a sound and sustainable financial situation for the
many households and enterprises. Now, as throughout our history, we want to
provide financial solutions to enable people, businesses and societies to
develop and grow. We continue to support sustainable projects that benefit
society as a whole. We are proud of our history, but it has only just begun.” 


Further information, please contact:
Thomas Backteman, Head of Corporate Affairs, tel: +46 708 311 166
Anna Sundblad, Press Officer, Swedbank, tel: +46 70 321 39 95

Swedbank promotes a sound and sustainable financial situation for the many
people, households and companies. Our vision is to contribute to a development
“Beyond Financial Growth”. As a leading bank in the home markets Sweden,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Swedbank offers a wide range of financial
services and products. Swedbank has 9.5 million retail customers and 535,000
corporate customers with approximately 400 branches in Sweden and over 200
branches in the Baltic countries. The group is also present in other Nordic
countries, the U.S., China, Russia and Ukraine. As of September 30 2010 the
group had total assets of SEK 1,846 billion. Read more at www.swedbank.com