SWDBY Swedbank A B (PK)

STOCKHOLM—Swedbank AB said Tuesday that Chief Executive Michael Wolf has been asked to step down by the board with immediate effect.

The bank's shares fell more than 4% following the announcement.

Swedbank declined to say if Mr. Wolf's departure was related to a recent report that Swedbank managers were engaged in extensive property transactions in addition to their regular duties. He had been heavily criticized in the media for his handling of the affair.

A spokeswoman at the Swedish FSA, known as Finansinspektionen, confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the agency is investigating "a potential conflict of interest at Swedbank." She said that Mr. Wolf's departure won't affect the probe.

Swedbank, one of Sweden and the Baltic region's largest lenders, cited Chairman Anders Sundstrom as saying: "The board deems that it is time for new leadership and a new CEO who can take Swedbank to the next level."

The bank said Birgitte Bonnesen, the head of its Swedish banking unit, has been named acting CEO while it looks for a replacement.

Mr. Wolf was named CEO in March 2009, when the bank's shares were trading at record low levels following the financial crisis.

Before taking the helm at Swedbank he was the chief of collection agency Intrum Justitia AB and held several senior management positions at financial services group Skandia AB.

He will receive 75% of his salary during a 12-month notice period and a severance payment of an additional 75% of his salary for 12 months. His current annual salary is 13 million Swedish kronor ($1.54 million).

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com and Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2016 05:15 ET (10:15 GMT)

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