SEB banka (formerly ''Latvijas Unibanka'', then ''SEB Latvijas Unibanka'') is one of the largest
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
s in
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
and a part of the Swedish
SEB Group
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (; lit. "Scandinavian Private Bank"), abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Nor ...
. Nowadays, its main rivals in the Latvian banking market are
Swedbank
Swedbank AB is a Swedish multinational banking group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. It operates primarily in the Nordic and Baltic regions, offering services such as retail banking, asset management and other financial services. Swedbank ...
,
Luminor and
Citadele bank.
SEB banka has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of
European Banking Supervision
European Banking Supervision, also known as the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), is the policy framework for the prudential supervision of banks in the euro area. It is centered on the European Central Bank (ECB), whose supervisory arm is re ...
in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
.
History
The bank was first founded on 29 September 1993 as ''
AS Latvijas Universālā banka'' ('Universal Bank of Latvia') by combining 21 of the non-privatized branches of the
Bank of Latvia after its reorganization.
In 1994 it was handed over to the
Privatization Agency of Latvia, but in 1995 it was registered as a private joint-stock company (half of the shares belonged to private capital, half - to the Latvian state), and on 12 December 1995 changed its name to ''Latvijas Unibanka''.
In 1996, the shares of ''Latvijas Unibanka'' began to be listed on the official list of the
Riga Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established ...
and were acquired by the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...
and ''Swedfund International AB''.
During the
Russian economic crisis in 1998, ''Latvijas Unibanka'' started cooperation with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, which became a shareholder on January 5, 1999. By 2000, SEB had become the majority shareholder and launched a bid to grow its share to 98%. In February 2001, Unibanka stopped listing its shares in the Riga Stock Exchange. SEB became the only shareholder in 2004, and on 11 April 2005, it was renamed to ''SEB Unibanka'', and on 7 April 2008 to ''SEB banka''.
Until 2008, the bank's branches were named with a Uni-''
' prefix (e.g. ''Unilīzings'' for leasing) and its logo was a stylized
Möbius strip
In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a Surface (topology), surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Bened ...
.
The first headquarters of the bank were located in Pils iela 23 along the
Doma Square in
Vecrīga
Vecrīga ("Old Riga") is the historical center and a neighbourhood (as Vecpilsēta) of Riga, Latvia, located in the Central District on the east side of Daugava River. Vecrīga is famous for its old churches and cathedrals, such as Riga Cathed ...
, before moving to a new building (''SEB finanšu centrs'', SEB Financial Center) in
Valdlauči,
Ķekava Parish,
Ķekava Municipality
Ķekava Municipality () is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Baloži town, Daugmale Parish and Ķekava Parish, the administrative centre being Ķekava.
On 1 July 2021, Ķekava Municipalit ...
just outside the borders of Riga in 2004.
In 2022, the bank began to scale down its operations in Russia and donated EUR 200,000 to support the Ukrainian people.
Operation
The Management Board of SEB Latvia consists of six people: Chairman of the Management Board Ieva Tetere, Head of Large Corporate Banking Ints Krasts, Head of Retail and SME Banking Arnis Škapars, the Board member responsible for AML and Compliance Māris Larionovs, the Board member responsible for Credit and Risk control Kārlis Danēvičs and Chief Financial Officer Jeļena Cīrule.
Patron of the University of Latvia
SEB banka is a silver patron of the
University of Latvia Foundation
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
. SEB has supported the
University of Latvia
University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919.
History
The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...
since 2008 by donating to scholarships and forums.
See also
*
SEB Pank
SEB Pank is an Estonian bank, owned by the Swedish bank SEB. SEB is the second largest bank in Estonia and is a member of the international SEB Group. Until 11 April 2005 the name of the bank was Eesti Ühispank, which was originally founded i ...
(
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
)
*
SEB bankas
AB SEB Bankas is a commercial bank in Lithuania. It is the Lithuanian subsidiary of one of the largest Swedish banks, the SEB Group.
History
It was registered as a public company in the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Lithuania on 2 ...
(
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
)
*
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (; lit. "Scandinavian Private Bank"), abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Nor ...
(
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
)
References
External links
SEB banka- Official site
SEB
Banks of Latvia
Companies based in Riga
Banks under direct supervision of the European Central Bank
Latvian companies established in 1993
Banks established in 1993
{{Europe-bank-stub