In her inauguration speech, Falkengren acknowledged SEB’s history in the region (since 1978) and the city, focusing on the bank’s strong commitment to supporting home market clients as they expand throughout the world.
“When we opened here in 1988 we had a narrower offering, servicing our corporate customers,” she said. “At the end of the ‘90s the customers started to move their business to the mainland. At that point in time we could not add enough value to compete with the large local players and as you know, we closed our office in 2001.
“Today the situation is completely different. We have a much wider Asian footprint with more extensive resources and a broader range of offerings across our operations. This enables us to support you - our customers - from a much more holistic perspective.”
Also taking the stage were Sweden’s Consul General to Hong Kong Jörgen Halldin and head of SEB in Hong Kong Carl Christensson.
While the grand opening was today, SEB has been open for business in Hong Kong since the end of August.