On 7 August 2000, SEB purchased 1,209,250 A shares and 224,887 B shares of Custos, which represents 4.51 per cent of the issued share capital and 4.99 per cent of the voting rights of Custos. This will represent 5.17 per cent of the capital and 5.59 per cent of the voting rights following the planned redemption by Custos later this year. The shares are included in the bank's trading book.
The purchase hedges a share swap agreement with a client, in which SEB pays the return on the shares during the swap agreement to the client.