At year-end 2003 Andris Berzins, President and founder of SEB's Latvian

subsidiary  bank  Latvijas Unibanka, will entrust the leadership of the

Bank  to  Viesturs  Neimanis,  who  is  Deputy President at present and

responsible  for  the  bank's  corporate relations. The Bank was formed

through  the  amalgamation  of  20  state-owned  banks from the time of

Soviet  occupation.  In  the  short  period  of ten years, Unibanka has

developed into a strong, successful and solid commercial bank under the

leadership of Andris Berzins. 

"The  fact  that Andris Berzins has carried on as leader of the Bank up

to  now,  almost  five  years  after our first acquisition of shares in

Unibanka  in  1998, has been of great value to SEB. It is difficult for

foreign investors to build up the network of contacts that I believe is

particularly  important  in  countries  that  display  the same pace of

change  and growth as Latvia. We are therefore happy to see that Andris

Berzins  will  remain as our advisor in Latvia," says SEB's Group Chief

Executive Lars Thunell