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Handelsbanken Loses Sustainability Head

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Stockholm (NordSIP) – After hours on January 23, Catharina Belfrage Sahlstrand, a leading figure in sustainability within the financial sector, has announced her departure from Handelsbanken after a 12-year stint at the bank via a LinkedIn post. Serving as Chief Sustainability Officer, Belfrage Sahlstrand has played a pivotal role in steering the bank’s sustainability strategy and integrating environmental considerations into its operations. Her announcement on social media has garnered attention across the industry, leaving questions about her next steps and how Handelsbanken will address the leadership gap in such a critical area.

Belfrage Sahlstrand became Chief Sustainability Officer in September 2020, replacing Camilla Johansson, who had been acting head of Sustainability since April 2019 when previous Head of Sustainability and Communication, Elisabet Jamal Bergström, left for SEB and as part of a larger re-organisation inside the bank.

In a somewhat skeptical article, the Swedish financial daily Dagensindustri (Di) suggests that Belfrage Sahlstrand has left ‘in silence’ as Handelsbanken has not announced her departure officially, although other key executive’s departures are not documented in the press release’s archive either. The bank did confirm her move to Di but declined to comment on any plans to hire anyone in her place. Belfrage Sahlstrand will stay for a handover period until this summer, she mentions in her post. The bank’s CFO Carl Cederschiöld has been appointed Head of Sustainability as a result of her departure. This move follows a number of shuffles in the C-Suite.

At the end of 2023, Handelsbanken’s CEO Carina Åkerström decided to take the opportunity for an early retirement at 62, after a long career at Handelsbanken where she successfully climbed the ranks, having started in 1986 at the bank’s Kalmar branch in southeastern Sweden. She was Handelsanken’s first female CEO and stayed in place for almost five years. She was replaced in February 2024 by Michael Green who also climbed the internal ladder, having joined the Gothenburg branch in 1994.

The appointment followed a thorough process involving evaluations by external consultants, but “in the end Michael was the natural choice,” Pär Boman, Chairman of the Board, commented at the time. “Extremely competent, with long, extensive experience of nearly 30 years at the Bank – at branches, the investment bank and internationally. Michael is an appreciated manager who really knows the whole Bank.”

In the summer, he new CEO replaced Chief Information Officer Mattias Forsberg who joined in 2019 from the endangered Nordic aviation company SAS to accelerate Handelsbanken’s digitalisation. Following this departure, Belfrage Sahlstrand temporarily took over the role of Head of Communications in addition to her sustainability responsibilities until she was again allowed to focus entirely on her role as Head of Sustainability, with Pernilla Eldestrand taking over as Head of Communications in September 2024.

Earlier this year, on January 15, AI-powered ESG information boutique SESAMm published a report in which it underlines Handelsbanken’s sustainability issues. Although it does appear that the Swedish bank has faced fewer controversies than Nordea and Danske Bank, the report mentions that the closure of 180 branches has increased employee workload and led to customer service challenges. The bank also faced penalties of SEK 1.8 million for misleading trading practices, pointing to potential governance challenges, suggesting plenty of work for a new potential Chief Sustainability Officer.

For now, Belfrage Sahlstrand retains her seats on various boards, including the Sweden Green Building Council and the Swedish House of Finance. She is open for suggestions for a new position after the summer, including in what she calls a ‘hard-to-abate sector’ or even as an entrpreneur.

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