1990- Bank crises and e-banking revolution

1990-1999
At the beginning of the 1990s the bank crisis was a fact, partly caused by the speculative economy of the 1980s. The state was forced to provide the banks with guarantees and capital injections, but SE-Banken did not need any support in the end.

In 1990 the bank bought the Scandinavian Bank Group in London and opened new representative branch offices in Bangkok, Berlin, Budapest and Warsaw. "Active Insurance" was formed to enable the bank to offer a new form of saving, fund insurances. The second strike in the banking world lasted for three weeks and caused problems regarding payments, but it gave the bank employees an unprecedented agreement. In 1991 a branch was opened in Paris.

Diligentia was formed in 1992 to administer the properties the bank had taken over during the financial crisis.

In 1994, the bank opened a branch in Oslo and bought the card company Diners Club Nordic. Banque Scandinave en Suisse in Geneva, Scandinavian Pacific Limited in Sydney and three of Finans Skandic's subsidiaries were sold.

The bank opened a branch in Helsinki. In 1996 the Internet branch for private individuals was started. The insurance company Trygg-Hansa was acquired in 1997, and in October the same year, the Internet branch for small and medium sized enterprises was launched.

In 1997, a subsidiary was established in Copenhagen and the Finnish banking company Ane Gyllenberg in Helsinki was purchased. The bank was the first in Europe to offer major corporate customers currency trading over the internet.

The new brand, SEB, was established in 1998. The bank bought ABB Investment Management and became a part-owner of the Baltic banks Eesti Ühispank in Estonia, Latvijas Unibank in Latvia and Vilniaus Bankas in Lithuania.

In 1999 Enskilda Securities became an independent company. The bank sold Trygg-Hansa's property and liability insurance business and bought the Danish Codan Bank. SEB Asset Management commenced operations in Denmark, and the bank's investments in the Baltic countries were brought together within SEB Baltic Holding.