Heavily criticized Carl Eric Stålberg, head of Sweden’s fourth-largest bank, is being replaced after massive loan losses in the Baltics.

Swedbank's chairman Carl Eric Stålberg is being removed as the bank's nomination committee has proposed Lars Idermark as new Chair of the Board, the bank said Friday.

The move comes as Swedbank is struggling with swelling losses after heavy loan losses in the Baltics and tumbling consumer confidence.

One of the bank’s largest owners, Swedish insurance company Folksam, said in a statement that it fully supports the replacement, adding that it's time for Swedbank to enter a new phase where “the largest challenge is the confidence of the customers and surrounding world”.

Swedbank, the largest lender in the Baltics, posted a a third-quarter loss of 3.34 billion kronor ($482 million) compared with a profit of 2.47 billion kronor a year ago. That was the bank's third consecutive quarterly net loss and considerably worse than expected by analysts.

Lars Idermark is today executive officer of KF, a federation of consumer co-operatives and a retail group.

"Lars Idermark has a broad and extensive experience. It is a proposal with strong support from Swedbank´s shareholders," said Lennart Anderberg, Vice Chair of the nomination committee.

Also Siv Svensson (CEO Sefina Group) and Göran Hedman (CEO Sparbanken Enköping) are being proposed as new members of the board.