Ex-central bank chief to join Nordea board

Former Danish central bank chief Lars Rohde has been nominated to the board of Nordea, Scandinavia’s largest financial services group. The announcement comes ahead of the bank’s general assembly on March 21. Rohde, 69, is praised for increasing the board’s connection with Nordic markets and enhancing its expertise in macroeconomics, risk management, and personnel issues, as per Niko Pakalén, chair of the nomination committee. The nomination follows a recent event where Rohde was overlooked for the position of chairman at the major Swedish pension company Alecta due to potential conflicts of interest revealed by his candidacy for another financial sector board role. Prior to his central bank role, Rohde was the head of the Danish pension fund ATP for 15 years and was replaced as national bank director last year by former head of the Danish prime minister’s department, Christian Kettel Thomsen.