Exhibit V
DESCRIPTION OF THE
REGISTRANT AND RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS
NORDIC INVESTMENT BANK
On December 4, 1975, the Nordic Investment Bank (“NIB” or “the Bank”) was established by an international treaty between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (the “Nordic Countries”) as an international financial institution to provide medium and long-term loans and guarantees. The Bank commenced operations on August 2, 1976. Through an agreement between the Nordic Countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the “Member Countries”), which came into force on January 1, 2005 (the “2004 Agreement”), Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became members of the Bank on equal terms.
NIB is governed by its constituent documents. The constituent documents currently in force include;
| | - | the 2004 Agreement and the related statutes (the “Statutes”), as supplemented by an amendment agreement between the Member Countries, dated February 28, 2020 (the “Amending Agreement”), which came into force on July 29, 2020; and |
| | - | the agreement between the Government of Finland and the Bank dated October 20, 2010 (the “Host Country Agreement), which came into force on February 16, 2011. |
NIB finances projects that promote productivity gains and environmental benefits for the Nordic and Baltic countries – in order to support a prosperous and sustainable Member country region. For a breakdown of NIB’s outstanding loans, see “Lending Operations of NIB.” For a description of the mission and mandate, including the credit policies followed in NIB’s lending activities, see “Lending Operations of NIB.”
The 2004 Agreement provides NIB the privileges and immunities common to international financial institutions (“IFIs”), such as inviolability of its premises, immunity from search and seizure of its property and assets, protection from pre-judgment remedies, and broad tax exemptions. For further information, see “Legal Status.”
NIB’s headquarters are located at Fabianinkatu 34, 00100 Helsinki, Finland (postal address: P.O. Box 249, FI-00171 Helsinki, Finland). Its telephone number is +358-10-618001 and its internet address is http://www.nib.int (reference to this “uniform resource locator” or “URL” is made as an inactive textual reference for informational purposes only; information found at this website is not incorporated by reference in this document).
Statutory Purposes
The purpose of NIB, according to the 2004 Agreement and the Statutes is to make financing available in accordance with sound banking principles, taking into account socio-economic considerations, to realize investment projects of interest to the Member Countries and other countries, which receive such financing. NIB is required to make a profit from its operations in order to provide for the accumulation of reserves and a reasonable return on its paid-in capital; however, it is not a profit maximizing entity. NIB finances its operations from the capital paid in by Member Countries, retained earnings and by borrowing on the international capital markets. For more details see “Capitalization and Reserves”, “Funded Debt” and “Treasury Operations”.
Legal Status
Under the 2004 Agreement, NIB has the status of an international legal person with full legal capacity. In particular, NIB has the capacity to enter into agreements, to acquire and dispose of immovable and movable property, and to be a party to legal proceedings before courts of law and other authorities. The 2004 Agreement further states that NIB, as a common international financial institution to the Member Countries, has the same status as other legal persons conducting similar operations within and outside the Member Countries.
The 2004 Agreement also contains, among others, provisions regarding certain immunities. According to these provisions the Member Countries have agreed that actions may be brought against NIB only in a court of competent jurisdiction in the territory of a country in which NIB has established an office or has appointed an agent for the purpose of accepting service of process, or when NIB has otherwise expressly accepted jurisdiction. Actions may, however, be brought by a Member Country or by persons acting for or deriving claims from a Member Country only if NIB has given its express consent thereto.
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