OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2012. Global Finance magazine named the best currency exchange service providers for 2012 in 97 countries and regions all over the world. Swedbank was awarded the title of best currency trading services provider in Estonia, while the overall winner was Deutsche Bank, reported the press-centre of Swedbank.

Darius Gecevicius, the FX & FI regional sales manager with Swedbank Markets in Estonia, says the Estonian team is particularly proud of the fact that Swedbank has now received this recognition for the third year running in the face of stiff competition from SEB, Nordea and Danske Bank. “It shows that we’ve picked the right strategy – establishing a strong trademark in the Nordic countries and Baltic States,” he said. “The award will certainly help boost our image as a strong service provider in the region.”

Swedbank’s leading position on the financial market in Estonia gives the company a strong basis for making the most of opportunities related to currency exchange services and was one of the reasons it received the award. “Our well-established traditions in corporate banking mean we’re able to reach the biggest companies on the market, whether they’re local, regional or international,” Gecevicius explained. “We’ve no doubt that the key to our success has been the cooperation between the FX & FI team and our client executives. That’s the main reason we won the award, along with the emerging markets business segment, which is growing all the time, and the opportunity we’ve had to focus on bigger clients with more complex needs. And all of this while Traderoom – our currency exchange platform – is taking care of 70% of our everyday transactions.”

Swedbank Corporate Finance named best financial adviser in Baltic States in 2011

Swedbank Markets has been named the best financial adviser in the Baltic States in 2011 by both the Financial Times and mergermarket and the best currency exchange service provider in Estonia for 2012 by Global Finance magazine.

In early December the Financial Times and the information agency mergermarket announced the recipients of the 5th annual European M&A Awards, recognising the best advisers in the fields of enterprise, non-listed companies, banking and law.

Reinis Rubenis, manager of Swedbank Corporate Finance in the Baltic States, attended the awards ceremony in London. “I’m very happy, and very proud, that my team was even nominated for the title of best financial advisers in the Baltic States for 2011, let alone won!” he said. “Since this year was the first that the Financial Times and mergermarket looked at the Baltic States together, it’s a great honour to win the award, and I’m sure it will spur us on to even greater things. It reflects the fact that Swedbank isn’t just a credit institution, but that it’s just as competitive when it comes to a whole range of other services.”
Despite the prevailing tension on the markets in 2011, Rubenis says the year proved to be a great one for Swedbank Corporate Finance. “Swedbank finalised seven mergers and acquisitions in the Baltic States between Q4 in 2010 and Q3 in 2011,” he explained. “Although most of them were in Lithuania, one very important one took place in Latvia, and another in Estonia. All of which were preceded by some excellent operating results in 2010.”

Swedbank is a leading adviser in the field of mergers and acquisitions, offering its services to medium-sized and large companies throughout the Baltic States. The bank has established specialist financial consultation teams for companies in Riga and Vilnius who work closely with the Stockholm and Oslo teams operating in the business financing sector from Swedbank’s branch company First Securities.