Morning Briefing – Tuesday, September 17

The Copenhagen Post’s daily round-up of the front pages and other major Danish news stories

Sep 17, 2013

New bank boss with a to-do list
Incoming Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen must be ready to hit the ground running, say finance industry analysts. After the surprise firing of Eivind Kolding yesterday, Borgen will now be expected to overtake the task of making Denmark’s largest bank one of Scandinavia’s three largest and to ensure a 12 percent return on the bank’s investments by 2015. The board will also require that the bank’s credit rating improve. – Børsen

The right bank man for the job?
The first problem incoming Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen will need to address is the bank’s declining number of depositors. Twelve months ago, 29.4 percent of the Danish population considered Danske Bank to be their primary bank, according to a Voxmeter/Jyllands-Posten poll. Today, it is 27.5 percent – or a loss of about 100,000 depositors. Jesper Christensen, an analyst with Alm. Brand Markets, said many of the initiatives taken during outgoing CEO Eivind Kolding’s 18-month tenure had been necessary, but the unpopular moves drove away depositors. – Erhverv & Økonomi

The rise of the boards
The surprise firing of Danske Bank CEO Eivind Kolding yesterday cements a shift in power in Danish companies that has seen boards of directors assert their will over executives who don’t live up to their expectations. Stock analyst Niels Leth said we should expect more CEO to lose their jobs in the months to come. “Boards have become more professional and heavy-handed in their approach. Executives who don’t deliver or who don’t have the right profile get fired.” – Berlingske Business

“Assad must be punished”
Denmark will push to keep up international pressure on Syria to hand over its chemical weapons after a UN report on Monday concluded that sarin gas was used in the August 21 attack that killed 1,400 civilians. The foreign minister, Villy Søvndal, said once Syria’s chemical weapons are secured, the next step will be to work to bring President Bashar al-Assad before a war crimes tribunal. “An act as violent as this against innocent people cannot remain unpunished,” Søvndal said. – DR Nyheder

Just say “nej”, to drugged driving
The police say they intend to intensify their efforts to crack down on driving while under the influence of drugs. Over the past five years, the increased attention to the offence has resulted in a ten-fold rise in the number of citations. In addition to being trained to recognise when a driver is under the influence of drugs, police have also been testing devices that can detect the presence of drugs in a person’s saliva. Jan Andersen, the head of Rigspolitiet’s traffic unit, said the devices have proved successful and that he expected to see police forces purchase more. Half of drugged-driving citations were given out by police in Copenhagen, in large part due to the sharpened police focus on the cannabis market in the Christiania commune. – Politiken

Audiences increasingly demanding refunds
The number of people demanding a refund after attending a concert or theatre performance is on the rise, and increasingly people are complaining after the performance failed to live up to their expectations. The change, according to sociologist Birthe Linddal Jeppesen, reflects the consumerisation of culture. “Culture is no longer something that we expose ourselves to. It is an experience that you pay for and just like any place else we expect the artist to give us what we pay for.” – Information

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