Maritime & Merchant Bank – a specialist bank for the shipping industry

Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA is a niche private bank offering first-priority mortgages to the shipping and offshore services industry exclusively. We were established in Oslo, Norway, in 2016 and opened for business on 1 January 2017.

The principle idea in setting up the bank was to combine top maritime banking expertise with deep industrial and analytical insight in a competence-driven platform. Our clients are shipowners and investors from maritime and financial hubs across the world. Our sole product is first-priority term loans for ocean-going tonnage within the main shipping segments comprising:

- Crude, product and chemical tankers
- LNG and LPG carriers
- Dry bulk carriers
- Multipurpose vessels
- Containerships
- Car and truck carriers
- Offshore support vessels

Our loan portfolio is distributed in risk classes according to collateral and internal risk classification. We focus on second-hand tonnage mainly comprising tankers, bulk carriers and containerships, with a minor percentage of specialized vessels like LPG and car carriers. The liquidity of the vessels is a crucial factor in our credit decisions.

Our Approach

We strive to have the highest possible knowledge in shipping and offshore by hiring employees with background from both Norwegian and international banking organisations. Our mix of senior resources working alongside younger executives with varied backgrounds and education ensures transmission of competence in both directions – providing an excellent foundation for expediting high-quality financing solutions. 

Traditional values

We offer relationship-oriented banking with a strong focus on face-to-face interaction with clients and putting together tailored credit facilities rooted in our market insight and understanding. 

Fast decision-making

As a lean organisation our ambition is to handle loan applications swiftly and regard our ability to move fast as one of our competitive advantages.

Governmental regulation

Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA is a licensed bank and is supervised by Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet). 

Client Relationship
Bjørn S. Havsgård, Senior Vice President, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Bjørn S. Havsgård

Senior Vice President and Head of Client Relationship

Bjørn S. Havsgård joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in January 2018. He has more than 20 years of banking experience from senior relationship and management positions with Finansbanken, Privatbanken and Pareto Bank where he was instrumental in initiating and building a shipping and offshore portfolio. He holds an MSc in International Banking and Finance from Heriot-Watt University.

     

Kari Skjelbred Trondsen

Vice President

Kari Skjelbred Trondsen joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in April 2017. She has many years of experience within maritime sector and banking from positions as Relationship Manager Shipping and Offshore at ABN Amro Bank N.V., Oslo- and Athens Branch, and as Financial Controller at Norsafe AS. She holds an MSc in Financial Economics from BI Norwegian School of Management

  Kari Skjelbred Trondsen, Vice President, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA
     
Stian Svennebye, First Vice President, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Stian Svennebye

First Vice President and Deputy Head of Client Relationship

Stian Svennebye joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in February 2017. Prior to joining Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA Stian worked for Quad Capital Management Advisors LLC in New York and RS Platou Markets in Oslo. Stian holds an MSc in Finance from the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University and a BA in Business Economics from University of Exeter. 

     

Asja Pellinen

First Vice President

Asja Pellinen joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in June 2021. She has many years of experience within maritime sector and banking as Relationship Manager in Shipping and Offshore at ABN Amro Bank in Oslo and New York, as well as Nordea Bank in London. She holds a BSc from Helsinki School of Economics and MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School.

  Asja Pellinen, First Vice President, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA
     
Stian Græsdal, Junior Associate, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Stian Græsdal

Junior Associate

Stian Græsdal joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in August 2021. Stian holds an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School.

     

Erik D. Tang

Manager

Erik Tang joined Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA in March 2018. He has held several positions in the bank and have worked with Client Relations since August 2021. He holds a Bachelor's degree in finance from BI Norwegian Business School.

  Erik D. Tang, Credit Support, Client Relationship, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA
Management
Halvor Sveen, Chief Executive Officer, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Halvor Sveen

Chief Executive Officer

Halvor Sveen has extensive management experience within banking and shipping, from companies such as Sparebanken NOR (DNB), Grieg Shipping Group and Pareto Bank ASA, as the head of Shipping & Offshore with an assignment to build up a portfolio for the bank within the maritime sector. He holds a Master of Law degree from the University of Oslo. 

     

Linda Christin Hoff

Chief Credit Officer

Linda Christin Hoff has extensive experience within banking, finance, and shipping from Norway and abroad, from companies such as Nordea Bank ASA, Norske Skogindustrier ASA, Pexip AS and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank. She has held several board positions, including Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA. Linda holds an MSc in Economics from BI Norwegian Business School.

  Linda Christin Hoff, Chief Credit Officer, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA
     
Lars Fossen, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Lars Fossen

Chief Risk and Compliance Officer
Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Lars Fossen has management experience from DNB, as member of group management of Toten Sparebank and group management of Eika-Gruppen. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Norwegian Business School and is a Certified Internal Auditor.

     

Tor Stenumgaard

Chief Financial Officer

Tor Stenumgaard has extensive trading experience within the interest rate and currency markets from companies such as DNB Markets, Chase Manhattan Bank, ABG Sundal Collier, Swedbank/First Securities and Sparebank1 Markets. He holds an MBA.

  Tor Stenumgaard, Chief Financial Officer, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA
     
Per Ugland, Executive Director, Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA

Per Ugland

Executive Director

Per Ugland has 35 years of banking experience from DNB. There he served in various managerial positions, Shipping and Offshore Division, Investor Relations, Group Services, Senior Credit Officer, in various central Credit Committees as well as being a valuable asset during vital strategic processes. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics NHH.

Board of Directors

Endre Røsjø

Chairman

Endre Røsjø is a Norwegian investor and industrialist. He has extensive experience as an active owner and investor in  a wide range of fields; shipping, financial sector, property, oil and energy and securities. He is the sole owner and chairman of Pinemont Securities Ltd (a member of The London Stock Exchange) and Centennial AS in Oslo. He graduated from NHH in Bergen, Norway and holds an MBA from Harvard University, Boston, USA.

 

Henning Oldendorff

Henning Oldendorff is the owner and Chairman of Egon Oldendorff GmbH & Co KG, a private German holding company with investments in several areas. Its main subsidiary is Oldendorff Carriers, a leading international drybulk operator and shipowner.  After working abroad with shipbrokers in London, New York and San Francisco, he returned to Germany in 1980 to become CEO of the company, which his father had founded in 1921.

 

Nikolaus Oldendorff

Nikolaus Oldendorff is the owner of Reederei Nord GmbH in Hamburg and has experience from Aker Yards, Bocimar, Maersk Broker and Deutsche Schiffsbank before joining  Reederei Nord in 2010. He holds a Master of Science in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School in London.

 

Magnus Leonard Roth

Magnus Leonard Roth has extensive experience within the maritime sector. As a founding owner of Ocean Trawlers, which became a leading player within the industrial fishing industry. From 1997 to 2016 he has held several positions, including as CEO, Director, and Chairman. He is an active investor in Norwegian and international shipping.

 

Karin S. Thorburn

Karin S. Thorburn is Research Chair Professor of Finance at Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and Adjunct Full Professor of Finance at The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, USA. Professor Thorburn is a Director of the Board of Global LNG Services AB and SEB Investment Management AB, and was previously a board member of Nordea Bank Norge ASA. In 2016, she was a member of the Mork-committee, reviewing the portfolio allocation of the Norwegian oil fund. She holds a Ph.D in Financial economics from Stockholm School of Economics.

 

Ingrid Elvira Leisner

Ingrid Elvira Leisner has many years of experience as a Board Member and Head of Audit Committee from various boards within sectors such as shipping, pharma and oil. From 2005-2007 She was the Head of Portfolio Management Electric Power at Statoil Norge AS. She holds a Bachelor of Business degree with honours from the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Anne-Margrethe Firing

Anne-Margrethe Firing has entertained a long career within shipfinancing and started her professional life within ship-owning working with accounting and finance. She was employed in the shipping department of Nordea (former Christiania Bank) in 1984 and have since then been working there. Anne-Margrethe has been holding various top positions in Nordea; among them Head of Syndication Shipping Department, COO Shipping Oil Services and International Division and has been heading Nordea’s branched abroad. She has been member of the Corporate Assemblies in respectively Norsk Hydro ASA (2002-2018) and Equinor ASA (2007-2014). Anne-Margrethe has her education from Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen.  

 
ESG

Maritime and Merchant Bank ASA strives to always behave responsibly and ethically, and the behaviour we expect from our clients is mirrored by the standards we hold to ourselves. Corporate social responsibility is about combining profitability with responsible actions. The Bank focuses on responsible lending, to be a secure bank for our deposit customers, safeguarding customer privacy and preventing financial crime while caring for our employees.

The goal of the Bank is to support sustainable clients and partners over the long term, and we believe these results can be achieved through continued development of our own business while encouraging the positive development of customers and other partners. Being a sustainable bank will change with the requirements we face, and this will be a gradual and on-going process. 

Environment

Shipping is a very important component of international trade, and currently represents the most efficient way of transporting large volumes of commodities and goods. Shipping transports the world’s needs for energy, food and goods between different markets. The total CO2 emissions for shipping accounts for about 3% of global CO2 emissions. 

Making the shipping industry more sustainable is a collective challenge, requiring engagement from all actors across the value chain when it comes to decarbonisation, responsible ship recycling and safeguarding labour and human rights for seafarers and other shipping workers. As a financial institution we have the ability to provide guidance and support by sharing our knowledge, and we choose our partners and customers to bring about positive change.

In June 2021, the IMO adopted extensive new CO2 emission regulations applicable to existing ships. The regulations are divided into three different components: the Energy Efficiency Ship Index (EEXI) addressing the technical efficiency of ships; the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating scheme focusing the operational efficiency; and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) which concentrates on the management system. The regulations will be effective from January 2023. 

The EU, through the European Commission, presented to the European Parliament and European Council in July 2021 an extensive package of proposals intended to reduce the EU’s total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 in conjunction with EU’s overall goal for full decarbonization by 2050. The package contains comprehensive regulations of both operational and fiscal character for the maritime industry which will gradually be imposed from start of 2023. The International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s and EU’s proposed regulations are important steps towards radically reduced total emissions from the shipping industry. Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA will follow the thorough work for implementation of the respective regulations closely during the forthcoming years and will, to the best of our ability, support our clients in the work to adapt to the new rules.

Social

The Bank continuously works to ensure that women and men have equal opportunities, and that no individual shall experience any form of discrimination based on gender, colour, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, ethnicity, disabilities, political opinion or any other personal preference. The Bank promotes equality, which is reflected in our business processes for recruitment and staff/management development. We want to be an equal opportunities workplace, and 47% of the employees are female, and of the management group 25% are female.  

Governance 

The Bank has and shall continue to build a strong compliance culture. This ensures that the bank adheres to applicable laws, rules and regulations in the market and countries we operate in. As regulatory requirements continue to evolve, we will also continue to invest in developing our risk management framework and capabilities to ensure that any new requirements remain firmly embedded in our daily activities. 

Our main focus in relation to corporate governance are matters related to ownership of clients, Anti Money Laundering, KYC (Know Your Customer) information and CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism). The Bank has developed an extensive template/questionnaire, which is sent to each potential corporate customer prior to opening of a business relationship.