Nineteen of 32 Helsinki large caps raised board fees this spring, and none cut

Nordea gave its chair a bigger raise than the rest of its board

The rest of the Nordea board received smaller raises. Ordinary members went up 3.1%, to €115,500, and the vice chair 5.6%, to €190,000. As a result, Nordea's chair now earns 3.8 times what an ordinary board member earns, up from 3.6 times a year ago. No other large cap has a wider gap between its chair and its members.

Nokia pays every board seat at the top of the market

Nokia spreads its money differently. An ordinary member of the Nokia board earns €185,000 a year, more than the chair is paid at 21 of the 32 large caps. Nokia's vice chair earns €210,000, the highest vice chair fee in the segment. Nordea pays most for the chair; Nokia pays the most, or joint most, for every seat.

The top fee has not risen, but two boards now pay it

For nomination boards preparing next year's proposals, the highest chair fee in Helsinki has not moved: Nokia already paid €440,000 in 2025. What has changed is that it is no longer a single outlier. Two of the largest boards in the market now pay the same top fee, and no other board comes close.

The January strategy now sits inside a larger group

In January, the board approved a 2026 to 2029 strategy with targets including comparable return on equity above 14%, a cost-to-income ratio below 50% and annual fee and commission income growth above 10%. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 56.1% in 2025. How much of that plan survives integration into S-Bank is now a question for the new owner.

Alameri leaves with guidance cut

Profit has been under pressure throughout his final year. Comparable profit before taxes fell 34% to EUR 56.9 million in 2025 from EUR 86.7 million, as net interest income dropped 20.9%. In the first half of 2026, comparable profit before taxes held at EUR 23.6 million, but net interest income fell a further 20.7%.

In February, OmaSp expected 2026 profit to decline slightly. On 29 September, it said profit will instead fall significantly, citing a shrinking loan portfolio, slower fee income growth, non-performing loans declining more slowly than expected and costs from the tender offer process.

S-Bank will replace most of the board on the day Alameri steps down

OmaSp has called an extraordinary general meeting for 5 November. S-Bank holds about 96.79% of the shares and votes excluding treasury shares, and has decided to redeem the remaining shares under the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act.

S-Bank proposes cutting the board to five members from the eight elected at the April AGM. The candidates are S-Bank CEO Riikka Laine-Tolonen, Mika Heikkilä, Jussi Sokka, Karri Alameri and current director Irma Gillberg-Hjelt. Gillberg-Hjelt is the only one independent of both the company and its significant shareholders, while Laine-Tolonen, Heikkilä and Sokka are not independent of a significant shareholder. Regulatory approvals are pending for all five.

The meeting is also set to disband the shareholders’ nomination committee and remove it from the articles of association. S-Bank proposes replacing PwC, which the April AGM elected as auditor and sustainability reporting assurer until the 2027 AGM, with KPMG, which already holds both roles at S-Bank. Board members in full-time employment or a similar relationship with an S-Bank Group company would receive no board remuneration or expense reimbursement 

On 5 November, Alameri is set to move from the CEO office to a five-member board on which three directors are not independent of S-Bank. The search for his successor will run under the bank’s new ownership.