An increasingly threatening Russia and President Donald Trump's wavering response when it comes to supporting allied European countries in the event of war have changed the geopolitical playing field. And Sweden and Finland have joined the defense alliance Nato, which in turn has decided that member states' defense spending should increase to 5 percent of GDP over ten years.
Must finance
SEB's CEO Johan Torgeby describes the development as "a total shift in Europe".
Important institutions, where SEB is one, are expected to contribute to the financing of resilience, defense capabilities, infrastructure and security. This is an incredible shift in political harmony that now prevails in entire Europe. Someone has to do this, he says when TT asks him to explain why SEB has opened up for nuclear investments – something that has previously been excluded both among the major bank's funds and in the portfolio of corporate loans.
He points to the example of Germany, which plans investments of "thousands of billions" in defense over ten years.
Someone has to finance this. Taxpayers cannot take everything. That's why we've made this change. We are now opening up for the future to develop our financial services for resilience, adds Torgeby.
According to the SEB chief, it is primarily as a fund manager that SEB will be able to contribute.
Neither Handelsbanken nor Swedbank has, however, chosen to take this step.
In this situation now, we have said no to companies, as you say, that can manufacture parts in nuclear weapons. But we are constantly evaluating, now it's no but we have said yes to the defense industry in general, says Handelsbanken's CEO Michael Green.
Has restrictions
But the policy is being reviewed on an ongoing basis, according to Green.
We are actually following what our customers, our authorities and our society want. We are not driving these issues. We are following and adapting, he says.
Swedbank has "for a long time" done business with the defense industry, according to CEO Jens Henriksson.
We are proud of that, he says and adds that the bank has started a new customer team for the bank's business with the defense industry this summer.
But we have restrictions when it comes to this type of weapon, he adds when it comes to nuclear weapons.
The policy is reviewed about once a year, according to Henriksson.
But we have no plans to lend to that type of weapon.
