OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2012. Nordea is the first-ever Nordic winner of the award, selected among some of the largest international banks.

- In times of tough economic conditions and constraining regulation, Nordea is a natural choice to award Bank of the Year in Western Europe. The bank’s relationship banking model is proving highly successful and the bank has stood out as a beacon of stability and prudence in banking, says Brian Caplen, Editor of The Banker.

Nordea took early action to adapt to a strained macroeconomic environment as well as new banking regulation. The bank not only maintained its ability to serve existing household customers, small and medium-sized companies and multinationals, but has also managed to attract new customers. Still, work is ongoing in all parts of the bank to further develop the services and the advice provided to customers and ensure compliance with the new financial market regulation.

- We are proud to receive this recognition, which is a result of the teamwork and dedicated efforts from each and every employee of Nordea, and the trust our customers show us. It’s a great motivation to continue the work creating the bank of the future. We have a good starting point, but we want to improve further in meeting our customers’ expectations and delivering solid financial results. By continuously developing our prudent banking model and always putting the customer at the centre of everything we do, we will do our utmost to safeguard our strong position, also in a changed banking landscape, says Christian Clausen, Group CEO of Nordea.

Nordea is also awarded Bank of the Year in Finland 2012, and in Denmark Nordea receives the national award for the fourth time in a row.