Well-diversified revenue base by geography and business area. Entrenched franchise in core business areas, particularly merchant banking. Diversified funding and strong liquidity. Enhanced capitalization. Deteriorating asset quality of the subsidiaries operating across the Baltic region. High proportion of capital-market-related revenues. Concentration on large exposures to single names given its business model. The ratings on Sweden-based Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) reflect the group's well-diversified revenue base, underpinned by its strong franchise in corporate and merchant banking in Sweden. The ratings also reflect the group's sustained revenue generation and tight cost discipline. Capitalization was significantly enhanced by a Swedish krona (SEK) 15 billion rights issue announced in February 2009. However, in 2009, asset quality deteriorated sharply in the Baltic countries where
