Nordea Bank has announced that it will pay the largest dividend to shareholders in the history of the Finnish stock market later this month.
The amount, approximately EUR 2.9 billion, increased to an exceptional size due to the expiration of the dividend ban expired by the Financial Supervisory Authority at the end of September.
The ban was due to guidelines from the European Central Bank (ECB) recommending that banks refrain from distributing dividends in 2020 and 2021 because it wanted a reserve buffer for banks if needed during the Covid crisis.
Dividends payable include shareholder payments that were originally scheduled to be distributed this year and in 2020.
Shareholders must receive a dividend of 72 cents per share on October 12, according to the bank. Nordea said that the dividend distribution will not affect its solvency.