Welcome to this webcast following the Annual General Meeting held earlier today. This meeting is conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation into Finnish and Swedish. You can choose the language by clicking on the language button below the video player, terve tuloa velkomme. Due to COVID-nineteen, it was not possible to attend the AGM in person. Shareholders were instead able to vote in advance, make counter proposals and ask questions.
All proposals by the Board of Directors and the Nomination Board were approved by the shareholders. The resolutions by the AGM and the voting results have been published today in a stock exchange release and the minutes from the AGM are available on nordea.com. This webcast is held to open up for dialogue with our shareholders. I will soon shortly go through the agenda of today, but let me start with introducing my colleagues here on stage: Torbjorn Magnuson, our Chairman of the Board Frank Vang Jensen, President and Group CEO Sara Mella, Head of Personal Banking and Iain Smith, CFO, participating remotely. Welcome.
My name is Ulrike Romanczuk, and I'm heading Brand Communication and Marketing here at Nordea. So back to the agenda. We will watch short video greetings from Torbjorn and Frank, and then we will follow with a Q and A session, in which you all can participate. You can post questions live through our chat, and we will take as many questions as possible during the session. The questions can be presented in Finnish, English and Swedish.
So before we watch the first video greeting, let me address the question to you, Torbjorn. The first year has truly been an exceptional one due to the pandemic, which has tested the resilience of societies, individuals and businesses. From your perspective as Chairman of Nordea, how would you summarize Nordea's performance in these circumstances?
Well, Ulrike and listeners, I think the right word is probably solid. The performance has been solid for Nordea. Last year, we were able to find and put in place a complete management team. They were quite quickly able to increase the customer focus necessary in these times with the special needs in corona times. And also, we were able to, in addition, to progress quite quickly towards better financials.
So, a solid year.
Sounds really good. Let's watch your film and get a little more deeper insight into last year.
Dear shareholders, extraordinary times, extraordinary AGM. That's what I said already last year, but little did I know how long we would have to live with this virus. Despite the fact that we're not able to meet in person this year either, I am confident that we will have a good Q and A virtually. Over the past year, we have shown great resilience and have learned to cope with the challenges posed by COVID-nineteen. We're making good progress towards the 2022 financial targets, and I'm pleased that Nordea has not only managed the crisis, but also has been very active in supporting customers across the Nordic region, and has maintained a prudent approach to risks.
The bank has been able to improve customer satisfaction and increase both business volumes and market shares across The Nordics. In addition, our recently launched ambitious sustainability targets demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future. Despite the operational progress, the dividend restrictions have had a negative impact on return on equity. As you are aware, the European Central Bank's recommendations led to a delay in our dividend process as we adapted our plan to follow the ECB's guidance. We understand the rationale for dividend restrictions when it comes to the banking sector in general, but as a strongly capitalised bank, our path is clear: we plan to pay out dividends to our shareholders.
Our capital and dividend policy is unchanged, and we consider dividend payments to be a matter of timing only. Today, the AGM authorized the board to decide on a dividend payment of a maximum of 72 Euro cents per share in line with Nordea's dividend policy. This includes the remaining 2019 dividend, as well as €0.39 per share for 2020, and would mean a maximum total payout of €0.79 per share in 2021. The first installment of 7 Euro cents per share has already been distributed in line with ECB recommendations. The board has also been authorized to decide on share buybacks of up to 500,000,000 shares in order to optimize Nordea's capital position and increase sustainable shareholder returns for the benefits of all shareholders.
COVID-nineteen will of course continue to have an impact on societies and businesses, but we are gradually heading towards more normal times. At Nordea, we are carefully reviewing what we have learned over the past twelve months and how we can improve our operations based on these experiences. Nordea performed well in 2020, but there's still work to be done to improve performance and develop the bank even further. I would now like to express three special messages of gratitude for the past year. First, I would like to thank all Nordea employees for their hard work and great efforts during the pandemic.
Second, I would like to thank Frank and the new leadership team for driving the improved performance. And last but not least, I would like to thank all our shareholders and customers for standing by us and being flexible in these extraordinary times. I would also like to thank Penelah Ehrenberg for her contributions as a member of the board and welcome Claudia Dill as the new Board member. Personally, I am strongly committed to continuing as Chair of the Board for the next year. Together, we will support Nordea's management in leading the bank towards the 2022 financial targets and beyond that.
Let me conclude by stating that we are glad to see the improved performance, but not yet satisfied. We will continue to raise our ambitions and create value for you, our shareholders. Thank you.
Thank you, Torbjorn. Let's continue a bit. In last year's AGM, you emphasized the need to build a performance culture in Nordea, less complexity and more accountability. Now after one year, have we seen any progress in this area?
Well, Ulrik, I think this is one of the main reasons for the good performance that we saw last year. There is much less committed decisions, much clearer reporting lines and also the short term incentives are much more hardwired towards the financials that Nordea need to progress.
That must sound good in your ears, Frank. Let's continue to discuss a bit last year still with you. As the CEO and President of the largest bank in the Nordic, could you share a bit your reflections on the of the exceptional year 2020? How did you react? And how did we adjust to COVID-nineteen in Nordea?
Yes. It has certainly been an exceptional year. And I think that there has been many learnings for most people during last year. So during the entire year and the pandemic up to now, we have been able to support our customers and the society in which we operate. And that is very, very important.
That's why we're here. We have been also been able to be fully operational, at the same time having 70% of our staff working from home. So it has been exceptional. And even further, we have strengthened our financials during that period, so a special year. We were first out or at least one of the first in The Nordics to offer installment free periods on loans.
And that was very well received. Around approximately 100,000 customers were granted loans and installment free periods. And I am sure it helped during a difficult time. Then I think the learnings from having as many people working from home and then being fully operational is that due to our great employees, very passionate, focusing our customers and our strong digital capabilities, we kept the bank fully operational with an increased activity level. And that impressed me.
Great to hear. Let's share your video greeting and then continue the discussion.
Dear shareholders, over the past year, the world has faced many severe challenges due to the COVID virus pandemic. COVID-nineteen has not only been a health crisis, it has also had serious societal and economic consequences. Many businesses, small and large companies, private entrepreneurs, sports and cultural crops and many families and private individuals have suffered from the pandemic. Sound and solid businesses, which were in good condition a short while ago, have struggled to survive and some have even disappeared. However, I believe we have many reasons to be hopeful.
The early signs from the vaccine rollout are positive. We are clearly heading towards brighter times. And although we are not there yet, we will eventually overcome the virus. But don't get me wrong. Being optimistic doesn't mean being naive.
Full recovery will take time. The impacts of the pandemic shouldn't be underestimated. There's no quick fix for individuals and businesses to fight their feet again. As a bank, we are in a unique position and have a clear responsibility to support our customers and contribute to driving sustainable growth within the societies we operate. I cannot promise that we have ready made answers to all problems.
But I can ensure that we are doing our utmost and a bit more every single day. To support our customers and the societies around us in fully recovering from the pandemic. This exceptional situation has truly shown our purpose as a bank. Over the past year, we have stood by our customers, taking every possible measure to keep employees safe and maintain business continuity. I'm also very happy to see that we have made good progress in our performance in 2020.
Our business volumes grew and we gained market shares across The Nordics. We improved customer satisfaction and reduced customer complaints by more than 20%. At the same time, we reduced our costs and increased operational efficiency. Our full year 2020 operating profit was 2,960,000,000 and our cost to income ratio improved from 57.5% in 2019 to 54.8% in 2020. We are targeting 50% in 2022.
Our return on equity was 7.1% and has been significantly impacted by our very large capital base. Our credit quality has remained strong throughout the pandemic and realized loan losses have been at very low levels. During last year, we updated our macroeconomic scenarios, including our longer term view of the expected impact of the economic downturn. We decided to increase our management buffer to €650,000,000 to cover possible future loan losses. We deem this to be a prudent approach, given the economic uncertainty and the fact that the full consequences of the pandemic are still unknown.
We entered the COVID-nineteen crisis with a strong capital position, which improved even further in 2020. Our capital position is among the best in Europe with a CET1 ratio of 17.1%, even after the deduction of the full 2019 and 2020 planned dividends. Our financial strength means that we are well positioned to support our customers and the societies around us and pay out dividends. We understand the reasoning behind the exceptional capital distribution measures promoted by the European Central Bank. We have followed their recommendations, even though they might be less relevant for us as a strongly capitalised bank.
However, we consider dividend payment to be a matter of timing only. It is important to note that Nordea has almost 600,000 shareholders. This highlights the impact of the dividends. They help to boost economic activity throughout The Nordics. Our capital and dividend policy is unchanged.
We have now distributed seven euro cents per share as a part of our 2019 dividend, In line with our Board's proposal and the AGM's mandate, we intend to distribute €0.72 later this year, which would mean a total payout of €0.79 in 2021, covering the dividend for both 2019 and 2020. One of the highlights of 2020 was our updated plan to fully integrate sustainability into our business strategy. The plan includes updated targets and a long term objective to become a net zero emissions bank by 2050 at the latest. We believe that the increasing demand for sustainability linked products and services is good for our business and for society. We want to make a difference for greater good and for generations to come.
We will deliver on our targets by working together with our customers towards a sustainable future, supporting them and enabling them to make sustainable choices. In addition, we will significantly reduce the emissions from our internal operations. We are also integrating sustainability in our people processes throughout a comprehensive diversity and inclusion plan. In addition, climate and environmental risks will be integrated into our risk management processes and customer advice. I strongly believe that you should practice what you preach.
And that is why our new approach is also visible in our climate targets for 2030 and our aim to be net zero by 2050 at the latest. We will continuously learn, become wiser and improve for the benefit of our customers, our business and society as a whole. It is times like these that require us to be an even safer and more trusted partner to our customers. That is us, a customer centric and well capitalized bank, a strong and personal financial partner, no matter how good or bad the situation is. Nordea wouldn't be anything without our excellent employees.
I would like to thank our employees and couldn't be any prouder of their expertise, passion to serve our customers, ability to adapt to new ways of working, determination and hard work to continuously improve our performance. I would also like to thank all our shareholders and customers for the flexibility and cooperation in these extraordinary times. We have now been executing our business plan for roughly a year and a half. We are well on track to meet our financial targets. We will continue to focus on our three key priorities to create great customer experiences, drive income growth initiatives and optimize operational efficiency.
In doing so, we will create sustainable value for our customers, shareholders and societies as we move forward towards 2022 and beyond. Thank you, Tak, Kietos.
So Frank, it surely was an intensive year implementing the bank's new targets, plans, financial targets in the wake of COVID-nineteen. What would you say? Are you satisfied, happy with the results?
I'm happy with the progress we made last year. We delivered on our financial plan, on our business plan and our key priorities. And it was a good step forward. So I'm happy to see the progress, and we are continuing to try to deliver on our priorities and our business plan. We increased the business activity across the group and that was very important.
We saw the business volumes come up, they grew. And also the market share grew across The Nordics. Nordics. So that was very encouraging to see. Customer experiences improved.
Customer satisfaction went up. And actually, we succeeded decreasing the number of complaints by 20%. So it's a good start. It happened all in the same time as we managed to improve operational efficiency. And the sign of that is that the cost costs operational costs came down by 5%.
So all in all, a good progress in a difficult year and hopefully more to come.
Thank you. Let's move over to Sara. You are leading the biggest business area at Nordea in terms of the amount of customers. And one of our key priorities is to create great customer experiences. And I would like to ask you, what did we do for our personal customers in 2020?
Last year, the most important thing for us was to be there for our customers and support them to cope with the impact and stress related to COVID-nineteen. And we did several things. One thing what Frank already mentioned was that in the very early phases of the pandemic, we announced that we would provide installment free period periods to our mortgage customers, anyone who needed it. And we did that proactively prior anyone asking for it. We also saw a lot of our savings and investment customers seeking advice as the investment market was very turbulent and that created confusion and nervousness.
And they were seeking us to help and advise them what to do, and we did that. Also, saw very active mortgage market, and a lot of our customers were investing in their homes and renovating and buying new homes and summer houses. And we were able to support them with the very good online meeting capabilities, digital capabilities and e signing capabilities for them to proceed with their transactions without the need to visit our branches physically. These are a few examples of supporting our customers.
Thank you, Sarah. Let's continue on the topic of customers. There has been longer waiting times lately in the contact centers. Why is it so? And what are we doing to improve the situation?
Yes. Our customer service in contact center has been stressed. There's been higher volumes in incoming calls to us and also from the fact that there's less visits in the branches. We are, however, despite the challenges here, we are, however, seeing a positive trend in our customer satisfaction now during this first quarter. And that is good to note as we know that availability is very, very important factor in customer satisfaction.
Then what are we doing to improve the situation? We have, first of all, moved some staff and added staff from branches to support. They are taking calls in the contact centers or joining the contact center teams. We have also added more information and guidance to our customers how to take care of their errands so that they would necessary not to not need to call in contact center, especially if there's peak peak hours or longer queues. Then we have also improved our internal processes to free up more time for our advisers to take calls.
So we are working very heavily to improve the situation. And I am trustful that with the combination of these different actions, we are able to improve the situation.
Sounds very good. Thank you, Sara. So now we started to receive questions from you, dear shareholders. So thank you for those. And as said, you can continue to ask them over the net.
Let's start, Torbjorn, with you because the dividend, of course, is a question which is very relevant for the shareholders. And the guidance from the European Central Bank is a very important topic. And you have been very clear that Nordea's Board of Directors are about to pay the dividend. But are you confident that you will be able to pay the proposed dividend after September 21?
Well, we are confident that we have the means to do that, the capital to do that. We expect the world and hope the world to go back to more normal times and vis a vis to reflect that in a decision to allow for dividends again. And as I said, we have clearly the capital to do that. It is an amount that we have accrued as we went along over 2019 and 2020 already.
Well, what will happen then if ECB continues the dividend band after 2021? Will Nordea still follow that recommendation like now?
Expect that to happen, but I see no need to speculate about what the ECB will do.
Thank you. So let's move over to you, Frank. You have talked about share buybacks as as a tool to distribute excess capital. Why share buybacks and not extra dividends as we are now in the area of dividends?
Yes. It's both tools that can be used. Our capital and dividend policy as of now is stating 60 to 70% of our earnings to be distributed by dividends and any excess capital intended to be distributed by buybacks. So that is the policy of the company, that's our start point. But of course, extraordinary dividends is also a tool that can be used if we would like to do so.
Thank you, Frank. We're still in the area of dividends here. So a question to you. After the normal we get into the normal pace of dividends, will there be any consideration to shift to quarterly dividends?
That is, of course, a consideration that the Board will always every year have to think about, but we have the policy we have at the moment, as Frank just stated, and that's an annual dividend policy.
So let's move into another area toward Bjorn. Sampo is Nordea's largest shareholder. How do you see your role as Chair after the announcement of Sampo's plans to sell Nordea shares?
Well, I don't think it's a secret that I've as I stepped into the boardroom a number of years ago, is dependent on Sampo's sorry, Nordea's largest shareholder. And when you step into the Board, when you become member of the Board, you have to work for all shareholders. And that's really important that all Board members understand that and so do I. Then, of course, it is a fact that the Nordea ownership for Sampo is a significant proportion of Sampo's value, and thereby, of course, I am perfectly aligned with all other shareholders in Nordea.
That sounds good. Thank you very much. Let's move into a very other very important area, Frank. We have stated in the strategy of Nordea that growth is an important area for Nordea. And so what are the topic of income growth for Nordea in the focus in focus for the future?
Yes. That's a super good question and a very important question. We have three key priorities, these are to increase operational efficiency, to create great customer experiences and to drive growth initiatives. And there are many. And we have a super strong start point and I think a lot of possibilities.
So what we our main focus, of course, is to grow the areas where we really have a big coverage and have a huge upside. These are, for example, mortgages in all the Nordic countries, SME, lendings and business, and it is, of course, private wealth and asset management, life and pension. And so that is really the core where we can scale the bank. And if you look at last year, we made actually very good progress and more to come. So we are doing everything we can to be well positioned to gain our share of the market growth and potentially also a little bit more than that.
So that's where you see it. Then on top of that, we had some examples on some bolt on acquisitions. And one example was the one that we closed in the Q4 of last year, SG Finance, now renamed to Nordea Finance Equipment. And we also bought a smaller portfolio of life business in Norway. So organically, a lot to do, some bolt ons if any targets are available within the core of our strategy.
Thank you. Let's continue on the path of growth and maybe add an angle of competition here. So we're at Nordea maybe perceived as a more traditional bank. But how do we how will we keep up with smaller, modern and maybe new challengers on the market? Yes.
So that's, of course, important to be very aware of that the basically all the time also going years back, the competitor landscape has is changing all the time. And it's about being well positioned and not become stressed because you competitors. New competitors are just keeping on even fitter, if you can say so. And there is very much about agility and so. And of course, we need to think about we are a very large organization, that has a very important role to play in all the societies we operate.
So for us, it's to be predictable, stable, growth and continuously more efficiently and understand our role and find our own position. And I think we have a super good start point there. Then we need to understand what is that we can learn from some of these new competitors. And one, of course, that is digital solutions. And I think that I can only speak on behalf of Nordea, of course, but I think many will answer the questions in the same way that we probably have been a little bit late to reply to the digital agenda.
But when we started to do so, we did it quite significantly and strong and with a big step forward. So today, there's nothing that we cannot compete with when it comes to digital solutions. It's just it takes time to change a 200 load company and do the necessary investments. But we are getting there, and I'm very positive for us keeping up with the competition.
Excellent that you talked about the digitalization because I now have a question here building on what you just said. So how is it with our systems and simplifications and integration? And what about the core banking platform? Where are we actually?
Yes. So let's try to split it. One thing is what is in the engine room and one is what the customers of ours are meeting. So if we start with the Digital Solutions, then we are quite far actually. So we have rolled out a new mobile banking platform in the entire Nordics.
Last year, it was rolled out in Norway and acquiring all our household clients. It is received very well, rated 4.5, approximately on the rating scale in the App Store out of five and include a lot of functionalities. And we have a road map where we continuously add new functionalities in order for our customers basically to have that as remote control to the bank. When you then add data and also more bi functionalities, then I'm sure that we will be in a very good position also when we talk about these incumbents' new competitors. In regards to the core, we are moving forward.
We are doing a lot. We have strengthened a lot the legacy systems. It just takes time. And I think that we have done a lot. We will continue to do a lot.
And the engine of Nordea, the legacy system, the like the machine engine is just becoming or the core engine is just becoming stronger and stronger.
Still in the area of IT and now outsourcing, we have recently decided to outsource activities to India. What is the reason behind this? How would you justify it? And what's the calculation? Is it cheaper in India?
And what's our overall strategy when it comes to outsourcing actually?
Yes. It's we have made an outsourcing here recently. We are in the middle of it right now. It's not a very big one actually. And but it is an outsourcing.
And to explain what how our thoughts are, it's about trying to understand where do we how do we get the most cost efficient solutions and where should we really have things in house and where could anybody somebody else do things more efficient than we could. And recently, it is within an area where a very large part will be automated. And it's just a question if we should do that ourselves or we should ask somebody that is really specialized within this to do it. And that is what we chose in this situation.
And outsourcing in general, how do you look on that?
I think we should lose it as a lever to understand how can we optimize the strength of the bank. Something is very, very crucial that we have in house. And some, it's just better to get somebody to do that is specialized within these areas and potentially also can bring more cost effective solutions for the bank.
Thank you, Frank. Let's move over, Sara, to you and but still in the area of IT a bit. So we had a service breakdown here in Finland some weeks ago. Could you give us an update on that? What really happened?
And what was what were the reasonings behind this break?
Yes. We did plan a service break to upgrade some of the main systems, core systems in Finland, exactly as Frank pointed out that that is work which is ongoing. And of course, the idea is that we do it very planned way and we can inform our customers early on so that they can prepare. Then what happened this time was that the the work was delayed and and therefore the service break lasted longer than it was planned. And therefore, it created some inconvenience to our customers, which of course we are very sorry about.
And then after the information came out that it is prolonged, we of course tried to guide our customers how to still be able to do different transaction. And majority of the services were functioning and then we were able to kind of fix them as soon as we could. So it was one of those examples of that there's always risk related to these big changes when we do a big change. And this case, it was about moving a data center to a modern environment. And it's a huge thing, and some things might go wrong as now did, but we were luckily able to fix it quite soon.
And we did everything we could. And isn't it so that the data centers are here in Finland? That was also a question that I think we received earlier.
Yes. And it's good to note with this one that we were actually investing in Finland. We kept the data center here and modernizing it. That, of course, all is leading to more stable in the future and provide better services to our customers. But it was in Finland and stayed in Finland.
Thank you, Sara. Let's move over to a more strategic topic here or a bigger the bigger picture and the future Torbjorn. So we have the current strategy period. It ends 2022. When will we hear about the targets for 2023 and onwards?
And how will Nordea look like in 2025? Could you reveal anything in this area?
That's an exciting question, of course, and I'm not going to reveal new targets or a new purpose for Nordea in this meeting. We are, of course, preparing and have started the work on a strategy beyond 2022, and that work will intensify, especially around the Board strategy meeting in September And then sometime not too far after that, maybe in the 2022, then we will come out with further information.
We are eagerly looking forward to that then. Still on for you, Torbjorn. You raised your compensation by 4% in the Board. How would you justify that is a question that I just received here?
I'm not sure I would express it that way. The Nomination Board proposed and the AGM raised compensation for Board members. Let me say that I think the Nomination Board found it a balanced proposal. Working on a bank board today is something completely different than, let's say, just five and even more so ten years ago. It's very intense work.
I think it is known to many that my first action as Chairman of the Board was to double the length of our Board meetings from one day per time to two days every time. So, it is a very heavy workload on the Board members, and this is the balanced proposal that the AGM has decided.
Thank you for clarifying, Torbjorn. Let's, Frank, move into another area. And we have received a few questions related to Nordea's policy for financing and investing in coal and the energy sector. Can you comment on our the information that Nordea's intention is to tightening the lending and investment in this sector?
I think I will start a little bit different. So what we did now here in the spring was to announce our ambitions and long term targets for our work within the sustainable or within sustainability in general. And it is to be net zero in 02/1950, and it is to reduce our emissions through our lending and investments in 02/1930. And then, of course, it is also to reduce our, you can say, our internal operations with the same share. And that work so that is like the long term targets.
And then, of course, it is to put sustainability in the center of our business plans. And that we are doing now. So the work the coming years will be to design to agree about policies within the different sectors in which we operate. And of course, within the most, you can say, sensitive sectors when it comes to emissions, need to have clear policies. We have that in place already today within some sectors, and we will elaborate it.
So let me come back to that question more when we are a little bit longer, but we have already now, of course, some policies in place within these areas. But it's a very specific question, so I would not answer the details here. I think that's wrong for But much more to come.
And a very interesting area. Thank you, Frank. So, Ian, can you hear me? We have Ased, our CFO, remotely here.
Ulrike.
Hi. I have a question for you. So the Finnish government recently changed their tax regulation. Have Nordea taken this into consideration in regards to our shareholders outside Finland?
So, yes, the Finnish government have led the way in, I guess, imposing new requirements for identification of shareholders, the the beneficial owners of the shares. And to the extent that they stay out they are outside Finland, have applied withholding tax. That withholding tax can be recovered. And what we have, in place for Nordea shareholders or also Nordea's customers is a process whereby they can, contact the bank and, arrange to have the excess withholding tax, recovered from the Finnish tax authorities. So we the way we have thought through this is to is to help, our shareholders who are customers to be able to reclaim the additional tax.
Thank you very much, Ian, for clarifying this. Sarah, a question for you here. So private banking is also a very important business for Nordea. How are Nordea's plans in the area of improving the services towards private banking clients?
First of all, I'm happy to say that the customer satisfaction also in private banking and related to savings and investment space has improved. And that, of course, inspires us to continue and improve further. The key thing is that we are listening our customers very carefully, listening their feedback and their wishes and develop our services based on their needs. And in private banking sector, is very much about individual customers supporting them and servicing them based on their needs. And therefore, it's always also about the relationship that the investment manager and the customer has and investment manager to lean on forward to support the customer.
And then, of course, it is same as with all of our private customers that we are improving our digital services, so that also private banking customers are using very much the digital services and can benefit of the new things coming in that space.
And may I continue with you? Because I have a question here from a shareholder regarding the functionalities of Nordea's WebBank, saying that it's not the same level compared the new one compared to the old one. So when will do we get all the improved functionalities into the new web bank?
Always when we are migrating to a new platform or new net bank, there is the question that how much are the similar services available from day one compared to the old one. And of course, our aim is that it will be better than the old one. Sometimes, it just takes a bit more time to add the services to the new Nedbank. And this has been the case now with the as we've been rolling out new net bank that we are adding all the time new services so that it would not just be as good as the old ramp up, but better.
Good to know. Thank you very much, Sarah. So Frank, an area which we haven't discussed at all yet is the area of anti money laundering. We have invested a lot of mine, money, resources and competencies during the past years in it. Can we expect that these kind of cases and cost will decrease in the coming years?
And do you have any estimates in this area?
Yeah. It's a very important area, we have, as you said, invest heavily. We have a lot of people, I should say. We are 28,000 employees in full time employees. You know, they are at the moment, and we probably have So it is a very big topic.
And we were early out. We learned on a pretty hard way. And when we took the learnings, we also made a plan how to progress, how to take to the level where it's needed. And that is work that has been going on now for five, six years yes, six years, I should say. And now I should say we have done many of the investments we should do.
I don't expect any increased investments here. But what I would like to see and what I expect to see that is more use of technology. So there are things that we can do actually with very high potentially also higher quality that we can do as humans and in a more efficient way. And that is like the next step within this area, Artificial intelligence and so will be a part of the recipe more than it is today.
Thank you. Let's continue on another topic here, Frank. So market shares. What are Nordea's market shares in the different Nordic countries? And could there be any room for new consolidations?
There is two questions, you can say. So let's start with the fact so when we say market shares, it's a bit difficult it's a small it's a difficult question because what segments are we talking about. But let's take the more broadly markets or businesses we have, for example, the business Sara is running, the personal banking business. There we have 18% to 20% in Denmark. We have 30% in Finland.
We have 12% in Norway. And we are having around 14%, 15%, I should say, in Sweden. So that is like the size. Then we are a little bit bigger on the corporate side. And when it comes to large corporates, we are even bigger.
So that's we are normally one of the two leading banks or number three in one country. There is space for us to grow. There's a lot of space and we are doing that every day trying to really move forward our positions. And we are gaining market shares and it's just very nice to see. We're not having market shares as an, you can say, an aim because you should be cautious about that being a bank, but we are doing as much work we can to be relevant, to be available for our customers and we have a huge passion for helping our customers.
And when you do so, it just leads to a lot of business. And as of now and last year, it has just made us grow even faster than the market in many of our areas.
That sounds great, Frank. And let's discuss an area with you, Sara, in which we have grown, and that is the housing area. The prices of houses has risen in all Nordic countries, especially during last year. How has that impacted Nordea's business?
As commented already earlier, we saw last year very active mortgage market, and and that actually surprised us in terms of the the year that that the pandemic pandemics were still out there and and we saw very active active transactions in the in the housing market. And I believe that the increasing housing market has supported the the interest that customers have in that. And then that combined with the pandemic of needed to stay home more and work remotely from home that also supported the market. So I think it's been a combination of these factors that has then led to the increase in the housing markets. And then that was seen also in our business.
And we were able to support our customers and meet the demand in terms of requesting more mortgages.
Okay. We seem to have a bit of a technical issue here. I apologize, but let's still continue here. Sarah, I have a follow-up question. Frank was mentioning that how well we adapted to the new ways of working and that also include our bank branches.
How do you see the future for our bank branches then? Is there any plans or any needs to close any? Or how will we continue to work?
Well, in regards to the branches, we are, of course, always fine tuning the number of branches and the locations of our branches. But we have no plans for any big reductions the future. We are, of course, assessing the customer need all the time and adjusting to the customer need. And I'm expecting that on the longer horizon, the number of branches will go down, gradually over time. But we also see branches very playing an important role, in in our franchise.
And they are very much demonstrating local presence that we want to offer to our customers in the communities. Franchises are also more and more about the advisory. And and most of the meetings are pre booked and therefore supporting the the need for for advice our customers have. But Frances, they play an important role also in the future. Even though the business is more digitizing and we have more of these online meetings.
But branches are still very important.
Customers have different needs. Thank you, Sara. So now I have a few questions for you too, Bjorn. And let's see if I get this one right now because it's a difficult one. So do you plan to nullify all or at least a vast majority of the own share acquired should you move ahead with the purchase?
Are you looking for other anchor owners or could we even merge with another partner? It's a difficult area.
That was a very far reaching question. Were we to be allowed to do buybacks? I expect us to nullify a large number of those shares. The other part of the question merges with other banks. We don't have any plans for such a thing at the moment, and there's very little movement in the European banking arena.
But I think Frank expressed it earlier today that if there were available bolt ons in our core businesses in The Nordics, then that would be of general interest. But as I said, there are no such plans at the moment.
A little bit into the areas of discussing future here. But what about a concrete question here when it comes to risk sharing in the EU banking union? Is there a risk for increased risk for our shareholders?
I mean, we have, of course, reduced risk in two ways over the past few years. One, we have talked a lot about increasing the resources and the structures in the risk functions in the second line and the third line, certainly. One thing that we haven't talked about is the simplification of the business and the increased transparency and accountability that you asked about at the beginning of this session. So in general and also, of course, Nordea is very, very strongly one of the most strongly capitalized banks in Europe. And that's, if anything, a guarantee or a way to stop to mitigate risks in general.
Thank you. So two questions on your role, Thorbjorn. You are also the CEO of Sampo, which is one of the largest listed companies. What about time? How do you share your time being the CEO of Sampo and then the Chairman of Nordea?
Do you have enough time for both two very heavy roles?
I do. And I accept. And my employer at Sampo has accepted that I spent very significant amounts of time at Nordea. And I must say I actually enjoy that also. I've been very much part of this, the present change program, if I may call it that, launched eighteen months ago, where we are progressing towards the 2022 targets.
And I've been very much part of that. I hope you agree, Frank. And so it has been important for me to limit my engagements to these two things, my role in Sampo and the chairmanship of Nordea. But I'm really very committed to continuing in this in the same way over the next year. That is the decision for this AGM.
That's a perfect then I have a perfect follow-up question for you because I have a question. What about after 'twenty one? Are you committed also to be the Chairman after 'twenty one? That's a question that I just received here.
This is a trust that you get from an AGM one year at a time. So let's see what happens in a year's time then. But as I said, I feel very much part of this program that was a three year event, as it were.
Thank you. I still have one question for you. Could you please give us an update on your latest discussions with ECB on the remaining twenty nineteen-twenty twenty dividend payments?
No. I don't think that that is helpful. I think that one has to understand that we can only speculate about the ECB, but the ECB is dependent in turn on what happens with the corona situation in Europe, specifically and the world, of course.
Why doesn't Nordea pay not implement a separate dividend payment method for the investors taxed in in Sweden?
Yeah. Thanks, Ulrike. So we're we're aware that, some companies have, in the past, put in arrangements to to help, Swedish investors receive their dividends in a tax efficient manner. The the way the that has been done before, though, has been to, put in a structure that, means you you can't see the beneficial owner of, shares. And the whole point of the new Finnish tax legislation, is to be able to identify those beneficial owners.
So we at Nordea are committed to good collaboration with tax authorities in all of our markets, all of the countries in which we operate. And so we felt that that would be inconsistent with that objective to put in place an arrangement of that nature, so, chose not to do so.
Thank you, Iain. And thank you, dear shareholders, for your questions. If you have further questions, if you come to think of something later today or maybe tomorrow, you are very welcome to reach out to our Investor Relations. They would be more than happy to talk with you. The contact details should be now visible on the screen.
And you can also find them on our website, nordea.com, under Investor Relations section. So it would now be time to conclude the event. A warm thank you to all of you, dear participants. Torbjorn, I extend the word now to you for your final remarks before we close the event.
I think a final simple remark is in its place and that's year 2020 now starts to feel more and more distant. We are in the Board and in the leadership team very well aware that there are further potential, further opportunities for value creation at Nordea, and that is now work in progress. So I hope to see you in our next Annual General Meeting physically together and continue this discussion. Thank you all.
Thank you. Goodbye for now.