OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2011. The global finance monthly magazine The Banker named SEB the best bank in Estonia in 2011, reported the press-centre of SEB.

“It is the third time that The Banker has awarded SEB the title of the best bank in Estonia, and it is a great acknowledgement to both our clients and employees. Basically, it can be said that we earned the title for the third time in a row, as in 2009 and 2010 The Banker did not name a “bank of the year” among Estonian banks. Thus, SEB is the best bank, both in the pre-crisis as well as the post-crisis market”, said Chairman of the Management Board of SEB Pank Riho Unt.

In addition to Estonia, SEB was also named the best bank of the year in Sweden and Latvia. SEB Estonia also won the Bank of the Year title given by The Banker in 2007 and 2008. “Swedish banks have acquired a safe haven reputation over the past 18 months, and SEB's reputation appears to be well deserved,” said Finance Editor of The Banker Philip Alexander, commenting on the awards received by SEB.

“The basis of the success of SEB is a business model based on customer relations. We invest a lot of time in analysing the feedback from our clients and we always develop our products and bank channels in cooperation with our clients. During the crisis years, in addition to dealing with problems, we also placed a great deal of emphasis on development and training within the organisation, so that once business activity had recovered, our clients would immediately have a strong and competent banking partner. The successful implementation of this approach was what made an impression on the jury and was the basis for naming SEB the best bank in Estonia in 2011,” added Riho Unt.

The Banker, which is a part of the Financial Times Group, compared the economic results, growth figures and other indicators of the banks. In addition, information about the banks’ strategic developments, technological development, customer-centeredness and other aspects was taken into account.