The work of the Board of Directors

The tasks of the Chairman are based on the Swedish Companies Act and the Boards’ rules of procedure.

The Board of Directors establishes annual rules of procedure which regulate reporting to the Board, the frequency and composition of Board meetings, as well as the delegation and evaluation of the work of the Board and of the CEO.

In addition to appointing the CEO, the Board’s primary tasks are to establish the business plan and the budget, approve major investments and significant changes to the company’s organization, as well as to establish central policies. In addition, the Board monitors financial performance and has the ultimate responsibility for internal control and risk management.

The Board is responsible for SEK’s financial reporting. The quality is ensured by the Board of Directors reading and submitting points of view for proposals on interim reports and annual reports prior to publication. At Board meetings, issues are addressed that have a material impact on financial reporting.

More on the Board’s competence and suitability

In the Swedish FSA’s regulation FFFS 2014:1, that applies to the company, it is stated that companies must explain how the Board, the Board members and the CEO meet requirements in terms of knowledge, insight, experience and suitability. In view of this, the following information is submitted:

As part of SEK’s human resources policy, which is issued by the Board, it is stated that SEK, in conjunction with the election of its Board members, the appointment of its CEO as well as members of executive management or managers for independent control functions, will make a suitability assessment with the purpose of making sure that the individuals in these positions are suitable for their respective assignment or post. Such a suitability assessment will also be made at another time if deemed necessary.

The suitability assessment of the Board members should, if possible, be made before the members take up their positions and be available for the owner when deciding on the nominations. The suitability assessment of the CEO and senior executives must be carried out before they are appointed.
The suitability assessment is made by taking into account the individual in question’s competence, experience, reputation and judgment. The Board members are appointed in accordance with “The state’s ownership policy and guidelines for companies with state ownership”. The Board members must have a high level of competence that is well adapted to SEK’s operations, circumstances and future challenges. Additionally, the members should possess a high level of integrity and good judgment, which can be expected from a representative of the Swedish state. Every Board member should possess the ability to look after the best interests of SEK and be able to make independent assessments of SEK’s operations. It’s necessary that the Board has the ability to work strategically with sustainability issues, which are of high importance.

The Board members should maintain independence and maintain a high level of integrity. The Board members may not enter into any arrangement with SEK or its management whereby their independence is brought into question. Upon the assessment of a Board member’s experience, special attention is given to their theoretical and practical experience of financial markets, legal frameworks and requirements, strategic planning and understanding of a credit institute’s business strategy or business plan and how it is carried out, risk management, assessment of the efficiency of the credit institute and their ability to produce efficient governance, supervision and checks as well as their interpretation of the financial information of the credit institute and ability to identify important issues on the basis of this information as well as suitable control measures. For the assessment of practical and professional experience, the length of employment, scope of areas of competence, authorization rights and area of responsibility as well as the number of employees are to be taken into account.

The CEO must have a high level of competence that is well adapted to SEK’s operations, circumstances and future challenges. The CEO must possess fundamental integrity, sound judgment and the ability to look after SEK’s best interests. The CEO must possess good market knowledge, a focus on the customer and on profitability, and experience of running financial companies. The CEO is to be concerned with and have experience with sustainability issues, possess a high moral character and a good understanding of risk and regulatory compliance issues, financial analysis and income statement and balance sheet issues with financial operations. The CEO must possess strong leadership qualities and a good ability to represent SEK in external circumstances as well as in the media.

Upon the assessment of a CEO’s experience, special attention is given to their theoretical and practical experience of financial markets, legal frameworks and requirements, strategic planning and understanding of a credit institute’s business strategy or business plan and how it is carried out, risk management, assessment of the efficiency of the credit institute and their ability to produce efficient governance, supervision and checks as well as their interpretation of the financial information of the credit institute and ability to identify important issues on the basis of this information as well as suitable control measures. For the assessment of practical and professional experience, the length of employment, scope of areas of competence, level of decision making and area of responsibility as well as the number of employees is taken into account.

The company’s Board members are elected by the owner at the general meeting of shareholders for a period of one year. The owner and the company believe that all current Board members meet the requirements in terms of requisite knowledge, experience and suitability that is established in the external regulations and in the above described internal instruction of the company. The Board members possess, inter alia, many years’ experience from leading positions in part with respect to extensive financial and industrial operations with an international orientation, in part with respect to export-promotion and in part with respect to corporate governance. The company’s annual report contains each Board member’s year of birth, education, the first year of their election to the Board, previous positions, other assignments and current assignments when applicable. This information is also available on SEK’s website under the picture of each respective Board member.

The Board, who appointed Magnus Montan as the company CEO in 2021, believes that he more than meets the requirements in terms of the requisite knowledge, experience and suitability that is established in the external regulations and in the human resources policy.