Swedbank creates new unit to deal with Baltic losses

Swedbank, Sweden's fourth-largest bank, said it has appointed Oskar Lundeberg to head a newly-created property arm which will manage defaulting assets across the Baltics.

Ektornet, which is fully-owned by Swedbank, has been established to manage assets taken over by the Swedish lender during the recession. The company will be operational before the end of the year and will be active in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, Swedbank said.

'Through placing and managing assets taken over in a separate company, Swedbank will be able to maximise the value from the assets when the economy turns again,' the bank said. 'The majority of the assets under management will be properties.'

Lundeberg has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate sector, having held previous positions such as CEO of Stena Fastigheter Stockholm, head of real estate at Diligentia and portfolio manager at Skandia Fastighet.

'His many years of experience in the real estate sector positions us well in order to carry out our long-term exit strategy, where we manage the assets in the best possible way until an attractive exit market re-emerges', Swedbank's chief risk officer, Göran Bronner said.

Lundeberg will initially be responsible for the company's Asset Management business, and at year-end will become the new CEO. According to him, the bank could take over up to EUR 1.4 bn in assets from debtors.