SEB, Sweden’s biggest bank, said that its private banking division attracted nearly 1,000 new customers during the third quarter of 2011.

The firm's operating profit for wealth management for the three months ended 30 September was SEK339 million (about $53 million), up 10 per cent from the previous quarter and 22 per cent higher than in the third quarter last year.

SEB also said that its private banking arm has had net inflows of SEK22 billion so far this year.

However, assets under management dropped to SEK1.174 trillion in wealth management, down from £1.321 trillion at the end of last year, which the bank attributes to the stock market volatility during the third quarter.

The operating profit across the bank was SEK3.7 billion, which the bank says shows that its cautious banking model works.