SEB to simplify its legal structure in Baltics

TALLINN - SEB has decided to consolidate its three Baltic legal entities into one by way of two cross-border mergers.

By combining three entities into one, and thus creating a larger entity, the objective is to further support customer growth in the region and to simplify corporate governance. SEB's banking operations will continue as usual in all three Baltic countries, the banking group said in a press release.

It said that by changing the legal structure, SEB will utilize the strengths of three local banks in the whole region and with a consolidated balance sheet, SEB's financing capacity will improve further.

"SEB has been operating as a single organization in the Baltics for over ten years, and now we are taking the next step by aligning our legal structure more closely with our operating model. As a result of merging the three banks, the largest bank in the Baltics by capital base and financing capacity will be created. This will enable us to support our clients' growth ambitions even more. It will also significantly simplify supervision and reporting processes," said Allan Parik, CEO of the group's Estonian arm SEB Pank.

Niina Äikäs, head of the Baltic division at SEB, said SEB has the ambition to provide our customers with the best advisory services and the broadest access to capital in the market.

"As our customers across the Baltic countries grow, we adapt to their needs. This change will deliver clear benefits to our corporate customers, as the bank will be better equipped to cater for the increasing number of long-term and large-scale projects across the Baltics," she said.

The new legal structure will also bring advantages to SEB's retail customer base in the Baltics.

"Our customers will benefit from a simplified governance structure as it will reduce time to market for new products and solutions. SEB has a long-term commitment to the Baltic region and is determined to continue developing its business here," Äikäs said.

Subject to regulatory approvals, including permissions from local financial supervisory authorities and the ECB, the new legal structure is expected to be operational by the beginning of 2027.

The consolidated legal entity will be domiciled in Estonia, with branches in Latvia and Lithuania.