SEB Group

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) is one of the largest banks in Sweden.

History

2023: Continued service of foreign customers in Russia

Swedish bank SEB plans to completely curtail its activities in Russia and leave the Russian market. This was stated by the head of the marketing and communications department of SEB Bank in Estonia Silver Vohu, reports ERR on December 21, 2023.

"SEB has an office only in St. Petersburg to help its few customers exit the Russian market," he said.

SEB Group also said that SEB's activities in Russia are focused only on supporting subsidiaries of Scandinavian, German and British business clients operating in the country.

"SEB did not conduct business activities aimed at local companies, institutions or individuals," the statement said.

The bank also noted that the loan portfolio is at zero. The bank does not issue new loans, and the old ones are fully repaid.

According to Wohoo, national regulatory procedures and requirements make the complete closure of the bank difficult and lengthy.

'It may take an unknown how long. The direction is clear that the bank will close in Russia. But the plan is to do it according to goals and rules, "Wohoo said.

According to him, SEB closed the Moscow office in 2022.

2022

Announcement of the termination of services for payments related to the Russian Federation and Belarus

On April 14, 2022, SEB Bank announced that from June it would stop servicing payments to Russia and Belarus and from these countries in any currency. The decision was made against the background of the ongoing special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Plan to curtail business in Russia

On March 21, 2022, the Swedish bank SEB announced that in the current conditions it is inappropriate to support activities in Russia. In Russia, SEB has 80 employees working in two offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The bank serves Scandinavian, German and British companies operating in Russia. The outflow of companies from Russia against the background of a special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine reduces their need for banking services, SEB said.

"This should not be seen as a temporary suspension, this is a reduction in our activities, a process that will take some time," SEB head of corporate communications Frank Hodgem said in an email, Bloomberg reports.

According to annual reports, in 2021, SEB assets in Russia amounted to about 6.7 billion crowns ($705 million), compared to 7.9 billion crowns in the previous financial year.

2020: Fine for money laundering

On June 25, 2020 Sweden , the Financial Conduct Authority (FSA) fined the local SEB bank 1 billion kronor (about $107 million) for shortcomings in its work to combat. money laundering

      According to the regulator, the bank "did not well enough identify the risks of money laundering in Baltic operations and had shortcomings in the management and control of measures taken by Baltic subsidiaries to combat money laundering." In addition, SEB lacked the resources to counter money laundering, the department added.

Swedish bank SEB fined $107 million for laundering Russian money

It is the second-highest fine the FSA has ever imposed. The SEB responded by saying the decision would be "analysed."

Meanwhile, the Estonian Financial Inspectorate fined a local branch of the Swedish bank SEB 1 million euros for shortcomings in the systems of combating money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism

Earlier, SVT journalists studied more than 230 thousand transactions made by SEB customers over several years, and identified 194 companies that have bank accounts in Estonia, but are registered in other countries. 150 of them are registered in offshore companies and countries with preferential tax treatment. So, the list of SEB customers includes companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize and other countries of Central America.

In addition, reporters were able to establish that about 2,000 transactions were carried out through the accounts of a Swedish bank by companies mentioned in the investigation of Sergei Magnitsky, who accused Russian companies and authorities of large-scale money laundering.

According to SVT, SEB's Baltic branches laundered money from Russia. Journalists found that from 2005 to 2017, $280 million was laundered through the bank, of which $72 million was transferred to companies related to the  Magnitsky case.^[1]

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