Luminor merger complete, nothing to change for clients, says bank
Finally complete with the arrival of the new year, Luminor's merger process will not mean any changes for its customers, confirmed Hedwig Meidra, corporate communication manager at the Baltic bank.
As of 2 January, the first business day of 2019, Luminor will continue operating in the Baltics via Luminor Estonia and its branches registered in Latvia and Lithuania.
Ms Meidra told ERR on Wednesday that in the course of the cross-border merger, Luminor Latvia and Luminor Lithuania's assets and liabilities were taken over by the Estonian-registered Luminor Bank AS.
"In connection with this, going forward, Luminor Bank AS' Latvian and Lithuanian branches will fulfil the duties of pension depositories in Latvia and Lithuania," she explained. "For the end client, everyday business and customer service will go on as usual."
According to Luminor CEO Erkki Raasuke, since the bank's founding, Luminor has been working on processes to follow the merger, including legal changes allowing for the full integration of its Baltic units.
"Our cooperation with supervisory authorities was a success, and the merger was implemented according to schedule," Mr Raasuke said.
Internal changes
As of the new year, Luminor is now operating under a new structure and new management model, and its management also includes new members.
Mr Raasuke will remain chairman of Luminor's management board, while Nils Melngailis has been appointed chairman of the bank's supervisory board.
Former Luminor Estonia chief Gunnar Toomemets will take over as head of the bank's private banking segment. Kerli Gabrilovica and Andrius Načajus, meanwhile, will remain heads of Luminor's Latvian and Lithuanian branches.
As of Wednesday, client deposits and investments from Luminor's Latvian and Lithuanian branches will be guaranteed by Estonia's Guarantee Fund.
Luminor's cross-border merger agreement was signed late last March, and received final approval from the European Central Bank (ECB) on 28 June. This cross-border merger was the final remaining stage in the merging of DNB and Nordea's Baltic operations.
Luminor is the third-largest financial service provider in the Baltics, with a deposit market share of 16% and lending market share of 22%. The bank has a total of approximately one million clients in the Baltics.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
