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Danske Bank continues to execute on its Better Bank plan – announces new Commercial Leadership Team and offers voluntary redundancy agreements in Denmark

As a next step in Danske Bank’s 2023 plan to become a better bank, we are establishing a new Commercial Leadership Team (CLT) comprising of 12 senior leaders from across the business and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

“I am pleased to be able to present our new Commercial Leadership Team, who will drive the commercial and customer agenda across all our markets. I am confident that the team with their strong experience from our business across the Nordic markets will increase our execution power as one bank and achieve faster time to market. This will help us to become an even faster and more competitive bank for our customers and further strengthen our position in the market,” says CEO of Danske Bank Chris Vogelzang.

As previously announced, the new simplified structure with two business units – Personal & Business Customers and Large Corporates & Institutions – will take effect from January 2021, at which time the new CLT will also be established.

An even stronger voice for customers
Danske Bank is also introducing two new Chief Customer Officers for Denmark and the Nordic countries to ensure our customers an even stronger voice in our organisation.

“An important part of our transformation is to drive continued improvements in our offering for and relations with our customers across markets. To support this, and to ensure that we have the customer perspective firmly integrated into our decision-making processes across our business, we are introducing two new Chief Customer Officers. I am pleased to announce that Thomas Mitchell and Trond Mellingsæter, both of whom are well known in and outside Danske Bank for their extraordinary commitment to customer service, will be leading this effort,” says Chris Vogelzang.

From January, Thomas Mitchell will move from his current role as Head of Retail Banking in Denmark, while Trond Mellingsæter will take on this role in addition to his current role as Country Manager in Norway.

Up to 1,600 positions to be discontinued
Part of the 2023 plan is also to significantly reduce Danske Bank’s costs to become an even more efficient and competitive bank. As a part of this, Danske Bank is now offering employees in most departments in Denmark the option of applying for a voluntary redundancy agreement on special and favourable terms.

“It is never easy to reduce the number of colleagues, and we will do our best to ensure that we do this in the most decent and respectful way. However, we need to adapt to the structural changes that the financial sector is experiencing, and to remain competitive in a low-margin and highly competitive market, we simply have to reduce our costs,” says Chris Vogelzang.

Danske Bank expects to reduce the number of positions across business units and markets by up to 1,600 during the next 6-12 months. Part of the reduction is expected to be achieved through among other things the above-mentioned voluntary redundancy agreements and natural attrition.

“We will start by giving colleagues who are considering trying something else in their work life or who might want to retire, a better opportunity to do so. Specifically, we offer them to do so on better terms and with greater flexibility than would otherwise have been the case. Together with the existing hiring freeze, we hope that it can help reduce the number of actual layoffs at a later time,” says Karsten Breum, Member of the Executive Leadership Team and Head of Group HR at Danske Bank.

Danske Bank employs more than 22,000 people in total, up from almost 20,000 at the end of 2017, of which about 11,000 are employed in Denmark.

The option of applying for a voluntary redundancy agreement will be available until 25 October 2020.

Danske Bank’s Commercial Leadership Team

The Commercial Leadership Team is effective from January and will in addition to the ELT consist of the following:

  • Mark Wraa-Hansen (DK), Head of Personal Customers Denmark
  • Stojko Gjurovski (SE), Head of Personal Customers Nordic and Country Manager Finland
  • Johanna Norberg (SE), Head of Business Customers Denmark & Nordic and Country Manager Sweden
  • Trond Mellingsæter (NO), Country Manager Norway
  • Lars Alstrup (DK), Head of Products and Solutions Personal and Business Customers Denmark & Nordic
  • Paul Martin Gregory (UK), Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking
  • Claus Harder (DK), Head of Fixed Income, Currencies & Transactions
  • Atilla Olesen (DK), Head of Capital Markets
  • Linda Olsen (DK), Head of Technology and Services for Personal & Business Customers
  • Rob de Ridder (NL), Head of Technology and Services for Large Corporates & Institutions
  • Kim Larsen (DK), Head of Group Communications, Brand and Marketing
  • Christoffer Møllenbach (DK), Head of Group Finance


Danske Bank

  • Stefan Singh Kailay

    Head of Press Relations, Danske Bank

    Phone: + 45 45 14 14 00
    Email: stkai@danskebank.dk

Journalists are also welcome to contact our Press Office by phone +45 45 14 14 00.