NBU allows Swedbank's Ukrainian subsidiaries to merge

The National Bank of Ukraine’s commission on the supervision and regulation of banks, in an order dated July 22, approved of the planned merger of Swedbank’s two Ukrainian subsidiaries, Swedbank and Swedbank-Invest. Swedbank announced plans to absorb Swedbank-Invest in mid-June in order to strengthen its position on the market during the financial crisis, following a go-ahead vote at a shareholder EGM on June 15. At the time, the bank said it planned to complete the merger by end-2009. Andrii Parkhomenko: Based on NBU data as of end-1Q09, the merged bank would occupy #12 place among Ukrainian banks by total assets and hold a 2.4% market share.