The Annual General Meeting of Nordea Bankp Abp was held on Thursday 23 March at Messukeskus, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre, Messuaukio 1, 00520, Helsinki. The meeting could be followed online via a live webcast.
Nordea's General Meeting 2023
Meeting materials
Go to sectionImportant dates
Go to sectionAdvance voting
Go to sectionPresentations by the Chair of the Board as well as the President and Group CEO
Advance voting
Important dates and Q&A
Q&A on proposed change of Articles of Association to allow for virtual meetings
The Finnish Companies Act was amended in 2022 to enable virtual general meetings, where shareholders can exercise their full decision-making powers, including the right to speak, make counterproposals and vote, in real time, using a telecommunication connection and technical means. Nordea’s Board of Directors proposes the Articles of Association to be amended to enable also holding a general meeting without a meeting venue as a so-called virtual meeting as an alternative to a physical meeting or a hybrid meeting. Virtual general meetings enable all shareholders to participate in Nordea’s decision-making and engage with its management regardless of their geographical location.
Below is our related Q&A, including our plans in the near future in respect of the AGM format.
- Being able to organise virtual general meetings allows Nordea to be prepared also for unforeseen or exceptional circumstances in its operating environment or society in general, such as pandemics.
- Especially when considering that Nordea is listed on stock exchanges in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and has a wide international shareholder base and a significant number of retail shareholders outside of Finland, we deem it highly important for Nordea to be able to arrange general meetings in the future in a manner that effectively and in an equal manner enables shareholders to participate in the decision-making of Nordea and to engage with the management.
- Virtual meetings which shareholders can attend regardless of the shareholders’ geographical location with a reduced environmental footprint will, when the time is ready in respect of reliable technology, market practice and the needs of our shareholders, be a good meeting option in addition to in-person meetings and hybrid meetings.
- No. Finnish company law strictly regulates virtual meetings and requires shareholders to be able to use their shareholder rights in full. Shareholders can thus exercise their full decision-making powers, including the right to speak, make counterproposals and vote, in real time, regardless of their geographical location.
- The options of arranging in-person or hybrid meetings are not excluded by also allowing virtual general meetings as an option.
- Nordea’s Board of Directors fully understands certain concerns with introducing virtual meetings in a too hasty manner, unless there are extraordinary circumstances, such as a pandemic, requiring the Board to take swift action to enable timely decision-making and dividend payments.
- For next year, the Board is committed to exploring other options than a fully virtual meeting for arranging the AGM, which would also allow physical participation, such as a hybrid meeting or an in-person meeting with additional virtual elements.