Singapore ,March 2026 — Simon Cooper has been appointed as a Board Member of Nordea, adding another significant chapter to his distinguished global leadership journey in banking, corporate finance, governance, and board advisory. With decades of experience across international financial services institutions and board-level roles, he brings deep strategic insight and extensive leadership expertise to Nordea at a time when the bank continues to strengthen its position as a leading financial services group in the Nordic region and beyond.
Alongside this appointment, Simon Cooper is serving as Non Executive Director at Nordea, reflecting his direct involvement in the company’s board and governance structure. His new role aligns well with his long-standing experience in leadership, oversight, and strategic decision-making across global banking institutions.
Currently, he is also associated with EQT Group as an Advisor and serves as Chairman of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business Advisory Board at Singapore Management University. These assignments further highlight his continued engagement with strategic advisory, governance, and leadership development across both business and academic institutions.
A major phase of Simon Cooper’s executive career was with Standard Chartered Bank, where he served as Chief Executive Officer, Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking and Europe & The Americas in Singapore. In that role, he led key global banking businesses and brought extensive experience in business strategy, transformation, and institutional banking leadership. His tenure at Standard Chartered Bank added to an already well-established global profile in the banking sector.
Earlier, he spent more than twenty-six years with HSBC, holding a wide range of senior leadership roles across multiple international markets. These included Group Managing Director, CEO Global Commercial Banking, Non Executive Director, HSBC plc, Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive, HSBC MENA, Chief Executive Officer, Korea, Chief Executive, Corporate & Investment Banking, Singapore, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Thailand, and Director Corporate Finance, HSBC Investment Bank Asia. Through these roles, he built deep expertise in corporate and commercial banking, investment banking, governance, mergers and acquisitions, regional business leadership, and international expansion.
In addition to his executive positions, Simon Cooper has also held board roles such as Non Executive Director at SAB and BACB plc, further reinforcing his credentials in governance and board leadership. Earlier in his career, he also served as Director at Samuel Montagu in the United Kingdom, adding to the strong financial and advisory foundation that has shaped his career over the decades.
With a career spanning senior leadership, board governance, strategic advisory, and international banking across institutions such as Nordea, EQT Group, Singapore Management University, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, SAB, BACB plc, and Samuel Montagu, Simon Cooper brings a powerful combination of executive and boardroom experience. His appointment as Board Member of Nordea is expected to add significant value to the bank’s strategic direction and governance framework.
About Nordea
Nordea is a universal bank with a 200-year history of supporting and growing the Nordic economies while enabling dreams and aspirations for a greater good. The bank works to support customers’ financial development, deliver best-in-class omnichannel customer experiences, and drive sustainable change. It is a full-service universal bank, the third largest corporation in the Nordic region, and one of the top 10 financial services companies in Europe based on market capitalisation. Nordea is present in 17 countries, including its four Nordic home markets, and continues to strengthen its digital banking capabilities through improved products and services such as online banking platforms, mobile payments, and analytics tools.
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