Banks in Sweden

Sweden’s banking system includes commercial banks, savings banks, co-operative banks and foreign banks. The market is highly concentrated, with a small number of large banks accounting for the majority of lending. Handelsbanken, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Swedbank are domiciled in Sweden; Nordea, which was a Swedish bank until 2018, re-domiciled its parent company to Finland in October 2018 and now operates in Sweden through a branch.

DNB Carnegie Investment Bank AB – A Stockholm-headquartered investment bank founded in 1803, active in securities brokerage, investment banking and private banking across the Nordic region. It acquired HQ Bank and HQ Fonder in 2010 and was itself acquired by the Norwegian group DNB, since when it has traded as DNB Carnegie.

Ikano Bank – An internet bank providing financial services in Sweden, Norway, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria and Poland. It has total assets of about SEK 42 billion. The company operates as a subsidiary of Ikano Group.

FOREX – A Nordic travel-money and currency exchange company, also offering travel insurance, a credit card and international money transfer. It was granted a banking licence in 2003 and traded as FOREX Bank until May 2021, when most of its deposit and lending business was transferred to ICA Banken and the company reverted to the FOREX name.

Handelsbanken – One of the largest banks in Sweden. Its home markets are Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with further business conducted in Luxembourg and the United States. The bank has narrowed its footprint: Denmark and Finland are no longer home markets, its Finnish operations are being closed down and its Polish branch has closed.

Klarna Bank AB – A Stockholm-headquartered bank that has held a full Swedish banking licence since 2017. Best known for its payments and buy-now-pay-later products, it reports 120 million active consumers and more than 1.2 million merchants across 26 countries.

Nordea – The largest financial group in the Nordic region, with substantial operations in Sweden. Its parent company, Nordea Bank Abp, re-domiciled from Sweden to Finland in a cross-border merger executed on 1 October 2018 and is supervised directly by the European Central Bank. Nordea now operates in Sweden through a branch, Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Sverige (Swedish registration number 516411-1683), rather than as a Swedish-domiciled bank.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken – One of Northern Europe’s leading financial groups with more than 4 million customers in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Baltic countries. The Bank’s operations have a strong focus on corporate and investment banking.

Skandiabanken – The banking arm of the Swedish savings and insurance group Skandia. The skandiabanken.se address now redirects to the parent group’s site, and the bank’s products are presented to customers under the Skandia brand.

Swedbank – A leading Nordic-Baltic banking group with 7.3 million private customers and 548,000 corporate customers. It operates 140 branches in Sweden and 69 in its Baltic home markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden) is Sweden’s central bank and an authority under the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. The Riksbank is responsible for monetary policy with the objective to maintain price stability. The bank has also been given the task to promote a safe and efficient payment system. The Riksbank was founded in 1668 and is considered to be the oldest central bank in the world.

Westra Wermlands Sparbank – An independent savings bank in Värmland County in west central Sweden.

Top Banks in Sweden

Total assets (SEK billion), at 31 March 2018 and preceding year-ends.

The figures above have not been updated since 31 March 2018. Nordea Bank heads the table on that basis, but its parent company re-domiciled from Sweden to Finland on 1 October 2018 and it has since operated in Sweden as a branch, Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Sverige, rather than as a Swedish-domiciled bank.