Nordea Bank has decided to close its banking business in Russia entirely to focus on its customers in the core market.
As part of its plans to mitigate risks, the banking group has been scaling back its Russian operations for years, Bloomberg reported.
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Nordea Bank already closed its retail banking business and said that it would keep some operations running for its corporate banking customers.
Now, it has decided to entirely shutter Nordea Bank Russia business.
On its website, Nordea Bank wrote: “In accordance with the Nordea Group`s strategy, the business focus is on core customers from the Nordic region.
“Consequently, Nordea has decided to reduce its network of international branches, incl. closure and liquidation of Nordea Bank Russia.
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By GlobalData“The closure process will focus on securing a smooth migration and closure of customer activities and taking care of our staff in this process.
“During the liquidation process, Nordea Bank Russia will strictly comply with all requirements of the Russian legislation.”
In the past five years, Nordea Bank has cut thousands of jobs and reduced its international footprint to become more profitable, the report added.
The Russian retreat is part of a plan to “de-risk” the whole bank – led by former CEO Casper von Koskull.
The plan has been intensified under its current CEO Frank Vang-Jensen.
Further, it has also exited other segments including leveraged buyouts and shipping loans.
Nordea had €500m ($612m) in corporate loans as of 2019-end, in Russia, representing a 43% drop in one year, according to Bloomberg.
According to its annual report, the bank employed 335 people in the country last year.
Currently, Nordea Bank has branches in China, Singapore, the US, Germany, and the UK.
It also runs an asset management business in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Portugal, and Chile, among others.
Since 2014, several global banks have reduced their footprint in Russia, due to weak economic growth.
This year, Citigroup moved its brokerage business out of the country, while in May 2020, Bank of Russia revoked the banking licence of Morgan Stanley Bank.
Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse also reduced their Russian presence, the Bloomberg report added.
