The ratings on Sweden-based Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) reflect the successful defense of the group's core franchise in corporate banking as well as the group's heightened attention to risk-adjusted earnings. Moreover, the retail business in Sweden has been revitalized and is contributing positively to group performance. All of this, together with a tight cost discipline, has resulted in improving performance, despite the low interest rate and limited credit demand from the corporate sector. Group performance is also supported by the operations in the Baltic countries, while in Germany SEB is still under-performing relative to group financial targets. SEB ranks as the third-largest financial services group in the Nordic region. Its most important operations are in Sweden and Germany, and
