RBC DAILY. Swedbank announced the appointment of Raimo Valo, who stepped down as managing director of Glitnir Group in Russia, as CEO. Valo is to take the seat of Swedbank’s executive board chairman Maris Manchinskis who will continue to work as a top manager for Swedbank Group. Glitnir Group’s business development in Russia will be overseen by former DB manager Claus Korner. Market participants do not rule out that the reshuffle of top managers in Glitnir’s Russian division could be driven by changes in the group’s strategy on the Russian investment services market.
Glitnir Group was founded in 1904 as a bank to provide services to fishing businesses in Iceland. At present, the group’s assets are estimated at €32.1 bln and its market capitalization equals €4.8 bln. The company manages over €11 bln of client funds all around the world.
Former head of Glitnir’s Moscow office Raimo Valo will take office in July to August after his candidature is approved by the Central Bank of Russia. As Valo said, his move to Swedbank is driven by the fact that this lending institution intends to take concerted efforts to expand business in Russia.
Claus Korner, who will retain his position of the director of the private banking division, will be the new director in charge of Glitnir’s activities in Russia. For the record, Korner took this position at the end of last year after his departure from Deutsche Bank where he was also in charge of operations with big private accounts.
