News labeled awards:

Prospera named SEB Enskilda the top Nordic corporate finance advisor in its latest ranking based on interviews with over 500 corporations and institutions in the region.

“This is the only ranking in our markets based on client feedback and it’s hence important for us to get this recognition,” John Abrahamson, head of SEB Enskilda Corporate Finance, says.

Prospera’s survey covered 27 investment banks providing corporate finance advice, of which 15 Nordic and 12 international.

Prospera has for the second year in a row awarded SEB Enskilda the sole number 1 position in the Nordic Equity category in its annual analyst ranking.

“That we earn the top ranking trust and business from our client’s year in and year out is a tremendous achievement that requires a very high standard across all colleagues and sites in our offering, Fredrik Carlsson, head of SEB Enskilda says.

SEB’s foreign exchange (FX) business has been named the top supplier in the Nordic region (for all currencies) by magazine Global Finance, and the best provider of Scandinavian currencies, globally, by FX Week.

For the second year in a row, SEB has been named the best private bank in the Nordic region by the magazines The Banker and PWM (Professional Wealth Management). Both magazines are part of the Financial Times Group. Although the survey was launched in 2009, SEB has only taken part since 2010. "The award is based on a thorough study of our business model," Martin Gärtner, head of Private Banking at SEB, says.

SEB's foreign exchange (FX) research team has reason to be happy – it has been ranked in the top five firms globally for currency forecasting by respected financial news and data provider Bloomberg. This follows a flattering client ranking from Prospera where the team was top-ranked in all but one category.

A return to the number one position on the TNS SIFO Prospera ranking for cross-Nordic equities shows SEB is the industry's most appreciated and largest stockbroker in the business area, Fredrik Carlsson, head of equity research at SEB Enskilda, comments.

Trade publication Euromoney at its annual Awards for Excellence ceremony Thursday evening named SEB Best Bank, Best M&A House and Best Cash Management House in the Nordic & Baltic Region. This is the first time SEB can claim the award for best regional bank. In addition to the regional awards, Euromoney also named SEB Best Bank in Latvia.

Financial Hearings Tuesday named Robert Bergqvist, SEB’s chief economist, best economic commentator in Sweden. SEB Enskilda number also retained its number one position in Swedish equity research for the 10th year running, putting the bank ahead of rivals Handelsbanken and Carnegie.

Lithuania’s largest business daily Verslo Žinios together with career portal CV.LT. has named SEB the Most Attractive Employer in the country for the third year running. "this award is a very important acknowledgement for us,” Raimondas Kvedaras, head of SEB in Lithuania says.

SEB’s Latvian unit last week won an a gold medal for its efforts in 2010 to become a more sustainable company, including taking social responsibility.

It’s Sustainability Index – a joint initiative by the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia – that has evaluated 50 companies and organisations in the country. Only three could claim a gold medal, while 31 companies won silver and 16 a bronze medal.

SEB's prime brokerage business, which provides services to hedgefunds, made significant headway in the European market last year, increasing its assets under management by one third. The finding, announced by independent on-line publication EuroHedge, will help strengthen the SEB brand, especially as the bank outranked big names such as Barclays, says Jonas Lindgren, head of Prime Brokerage.

SEB has been voted as the leading bank for arranging new bond issues on behalf of Swedish issuers, in the latest TNS SIFO Prospera rankings. The ranking it based on interviews with the finance directors of the 45 largest issuers of bonds in the Swedish market. "Of the 19 criteria we were judged on, we came out on top in all but three," says Anders Engstrand, global head of Origination and Syndicate at SEB.

Industry publication Euromoney has once again named SEB's private banking business the best provider in Sweden, and the bank has also taken pole position in Finland and Lithuania in the latest ranking. In Denmark SEB has climbed from eighth position to third. The rankings compared scores from 1,500 competitors across the globe.

SEB ranks number one among banks in a corporate reputation survey conducted by TNS in Latvia. This is the second year the survey has been conducted and SEB in Latvia has managed to improve its performance - from a number two ranking last year to number one this year. SEB’s total score in the survey was 55, which also corresponds to the highest corporate reputation index within the European financial industry.

SEB has been named the best bank globally when it comes to forecasting British pound against the American dollar, with less than 2 per cent margin of error. Chief FX Strategist Carl Hammer says the ranking reflects the effort put into examining the UK economic situation.

SEB Enskilda claimed the top spot when members of Denmark’s Investor Relations association (DIRF) named the country’s best equity research firm for 2010. This is the first time at the top for SEB Enskilda since the bank started operating its investment banking business in Denmark in 1997.

Eastbrook Information Lab, in its annual Finansbarometern survey, named SEB best bank for businesses (Årets affärsbank) in Sweden in 2010. In the survey, the largest of its kind, around 1,000 companies in Sweden with annual revenue of at least 250 million Swedish kronor (27 million euro) have provided judgement on several aspects of their banking relationships.

Fund management rating institute Standard & Poor’s has awarded SEB’s Asset Selection fund an AA-rating. This places the fund amongst the top-rated UCITS-funds using an absolute return strategy globally. The rating is testament to the long-term high return, the active risk control and the stability and competence in SEB’s global Quant Team, under the leadership of Hans-Olov Bornemann, which is managing the fund.

Trade & Forfaiting Review magazine has named SEB Best Trade Bank in Western Europe ahead of Italian bank Unicredit and France's BNP Paribas. SEB grew its trade finance business volumes by 70 per cent in 2009.

SEB Germany has received a certificate for its family-friendly personnel policy. Representatives for the government gave the quality stamp, which is valid for three years, to Renate Bloß-Barkowski (center of picture), head of HR in an official ceremony on 11 June.
 

SEB Enskilda and its roster of analysts strengthened its number one position in equity research as ranked by Swedish institutional investors in a survey commissioned by financialhearings.com and local business weekly Affärsvärlden.

SEB has gained market share and further strengthened its position as a leading player in the Nordic foreign exchange market, according to a range of surveys and awards published lately. Here you can hear Joachim Alpen, head of SEB’s foreign exchange trading unit, comment on the successful development.

SEB Latvia recently received an award for best bank in Latvia 2010 from Emeafinance. This is the second year running that the international trade magazine awarded SEB the top position at its annual CEE and CIS Banking Awards event.

During March, SEB Estonia received several marketing awards. At the Golden Egg gala on 19 March, SEB received no less than five awards and in the competition “Marketing Act of the Year” on 9 March, SEB won the Marketing Act of the Year 2009 Grand Prix for the project “SEB – the biggest supporter of sport in Estonia!”

The brand survey conducted by TNS Emor at the beginning of 2010 shows that SEB is the most likeable brand in the financial sector in Estonia. This is an important change as the popularity rating has always been closely tied to the size of the market share in the past.

As in 2009, SEB Germany's website, www.seb.de, has been honoured once again for good results at the ibi banking website competition 2010, the most extensive research of web presences of financial institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

For the second year in a row SEB Lithuania was recognised as the most active member on the Baltic stock exchanges and the one that has made the largest contribution towards market development in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. SEB Lithuania received the award from exchange operator Nasdaq OMX.

SEB Enskilda has been named 2009 Nordic Financial Advisor of the Year at the Financial Times and Mergermarket European M&A Awards in London on 9 December. The awards utilise both M&A transaction data and independent expert opinion from a panel of leading European M&A practitioners.