Danske Bank. Description of company’s strategy and objectives.
Danske Bank A/S (DB), headquartered in Copenhagen, is a Danish banking group and one of the
leading financial services provider in northern European market. It encompasses Danske Bank,
Realkredit Danmark and other subsidiaries. (Bloomberg) The Group has 329 branches, 3,7 million
customers, 19000 full-time employees and operates in 15 countries. It has core market in Denmark,
Sweden, Norway and Finland. DB offers wide range of financial services and products to personal
and corporate customers, as well as institutional clients. (Danske Bank)
With its vision of being “recognised as the most trusted financial partner”, the Group focuses on
creating long-term value for its customers and shareholders. However DB also emphasises, that
financial partner’s trustworthiness depends on ability to maintain long-lasting relationships with all
its stakeholders that include also employees, business partners, suppliers, local and international
authorities, competitors, politicians, financial associations, the media, and general public where the
bank operates. (Ibid.) In contrast to Anglo-American world, companies operating in Scandinavia
have more than just shareholder-oriented approach (Burzhala 2009). And DB is an example of that.
The customers and their satisfaction are at the heart of DB’s strategy. The Group is continuously
focusing on customer loyalty, product innovation, optimisation of its product mix. (Danske Bank
annual report 2014).
Corporate governance system and mechanisms applied in Danske Bank
The main concern of corporate governance is the separation of ownership and management From
agency theory perspective, the principal (shareholders) hires the agent (management) to manage the
company on behalf of principal. Both principal and agent have divergent interest: the agent
(manager) has an incentive to expropriate firm’s resources, as it takes less effort, what in turn lead...