| Headline: Nordic Region Source: Euromoney Date: July 2000 Author: Christina white Nordic region Best Bank: MeritaNordbanken Best Foreign Bank: Citibank Best Domestic Bond House: SEB Best Foreign Bond House: Salomon Smith Barney Best Domestic Equity House: Enskilda Securities Best Foreign Equity House: Alfred Berg Best Domestic M&A House: Enskilda Securities Best Foreign M&A House: Alfred Berg For non-eurozone countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden, isolation from the continent makes links with each other more important. In banking, the three countries have much in common and as consolidation blows through the region, the race to become the pre-eminent pan-Nordic bank is on. MeritaNordbanken just renamed Nordic Baltic Holdings is winning. The cross-border merger of leading Swedish and Finnish banks that formed the bank in 1997 set the stage for expansion. The bank publicized its intentions to acquire leading Danish and Norwegian banks to give it a notable presence in each country of the region and it has been true to its word. In the past year MeritaNordbanken acquired Unidanmark and has bid for Christiania Bank in a move endorsed by the Norwegian government. Even though MeritaNordbanken is not the only bank in the region to acquire other regional banks, its acquisitions have been more aggressive and significant than those of its competitors. |