About

Martin Wasteson has served as chief legal officer of the legal group at Svenska Handelsbanken since March 2015, having been employed as a lawyer at the bank’s central legal department since 2012. The bank is one of the largest in the Nordic region and has locations and services all over the globe serving customers in all of the world’s major financial centres. The bank has a particular focus on offering services to the forestry industry, as it is a major industry in Sweden. As chief legal officer, Wasteson is involved in all legal matters of the company, from the legal components of providing financial services to the bank’s other initiatives. For example, in June 2018 Handelsbanken issued its first “green” bond, a five year senior bond on the market for €500m in total. Its proceeds will be used for lending to investments in low carbon emissions and climate technology such as sustainable forestry, green buildings and renewable energy. This was the first bond of its kind for the company and it was three times oversubscribed. As leader of the legal department, Wasteson handled the legal matters for the preparation of this product, showing his capabilities in advising on pioneering and cutting-edge business matters.