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Best bank: SEB |
SEB, founded as one of the traditional leading merchant banks that served Swedish industry, has grown increasingly strong market positions in private banking, asset management and retail banking in its home market.
In the 12 months under review, the bank added 10,000 new small and medium-sized enterprises as customers, bringing it up to 400,000 SME customers. This has shown up in the bank’s financial results, boosting its net interest income, which was also bolstered by higher volumes of lending and deposits of Swedish households.
While some banks cut back, SEB increased mortgage lending in Sweden by 8% last year. In addition, its sales of mutual fund savings products in Sweden increased while all its competitors lost ground.
For corporate clients, SEB remains an important provider of wholesale and investment banking services. It advised SAS on its divestment of Air Baltic.