The Board of Íslandsbanki hf. has appointed the following to sit on its Nomination Committee: Helga Valfells, chair; and Tómas Már Sigurðsson. Additionally Hallgrímur Snorrason, Chairman of the Íslandsbanki Board of Directors sits on the Committee as per the Bank‘s articles regarding Nomination Committees. The Committee, whose role is to nominate individuals to sit on the Bank’s Board of Directors, operates on the basis of an authorisation in the Bank’s Articles of Association. Committee members are elected by the Board for a term of one year at a time.
In addition, Icelandic State Financial Investments (ISFI) operates a three-member selection committee that works alongside the Nomination Committee. The ISFI Selection Committee, on behalf of the State, appoints parties who have the right to participate in the boards of directors of banks or undertakings falling under the auspices of the agency.
According to a contractual agreement between Íslandsbanki and ISFI, the Bank’s Nomination Committee and the ISFI Selection Committee shall ensure that when the Board of Directors is elected, the group of candidates satisfies at all times the statutory requirements on board composition, as regards both breadth of knowledge and gender ratio.
The Nomination Committee protocols can be found on the Bank’s website.
Helga Valfells
Helga Valfells served as a member of the Board of Íslandsbanki from 2013 to 2019. She is one of the founders of the Icelandic venture firm Crowberry Capital, where she currently serves as CEO. Helga was deputy chairman of the Board of directors of Siminn 2018 to 2021. Previous employers include Estée Lauder UK, Merrill Lynch Europe, and the Trade Council of Iceland, where she worked with a number of export companies. Helga was a director of NSA Ventures in 2010-2016. During her tenure with the Fund, she sat on 14 start-up boards. An active entrepreneur, she has participated in founding start-up companies and previously acted as an advisor to the Icelandic Minister of Business Affairs. Furthermore, she has worked as an independent consultant for a number of export companies from Iceland, the UK, and Canada.
Tómas Már Sigurðsson
Tómas Már Sigurðsson was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Íslandsbanki 2019 to 2020. Tómas is currently the Chief Executive Officer at HS Orka. Prior to that, Tómas was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Alcoa Corporation from 2014 to 2019. Earlier, Tómas was the CEO of Alcoa Fjarðaál and Alcoa in Iceland but moved to Geneva in 2011 where he became the President of Alcoa Europe and Middle East. He was the chairman of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce from 2009 to 2012 and served as a board member of the Federation of Icelandic Industries in 2005-2011. He was also a member of the Executive Committees of the European Aluminium Association, Eurometaux, and the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union from 2011 to 2014. Tómas sat on a number of boards for Alcoa Corporation and was a member of the Executive Committee of Europe Aluminium and Business Europe.
Tómas holds an M.Sc in Planning from Cornell University, United States and a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iceland.
Hallgrímur Snorrason
Hallgrímur Snorrason is the Chairman of the Board of Íslandsbanki, since March 2019, but first joined the Board in 2016. Hallgrímur is an independent consultant in official statistics at international level. He was Director-General of Statistics Iceland in 1985-2007 and Deputy Managing Director of the National Economic Institute of Iceland in 1980-1984. Has been a member of the board of several companies, including Útvegsbanki Íslands hf., Skýrr and Auður Capital. He has also chaired or served on a number of governmental committees, both domestically and in connection with Nordic cooperation, EFTA, EU and the OECD.
Hallgrímur holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Lund in Sweden and a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Edinburgh.