Former SEB CEO Audrius Žiugžda is taking responsibility for the bank's over-extension of credit during the "Baltic Tiger" boom. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh.

VILNIUS — SEB Bank Lithuania changed its leadership after former CEO Audrius Žiugžda resigned this week following results showing massive losses for the bank.

Žiugžda said he would take responsibility for the bank’s souring loan portfolio that was created under his reign. The bank posted an unaudited loss of 942.8 million litas (€273.2 million) in the first nine months of this year.

“With a very strong downturn in the Lithuanian economy the bank will need to adapt to a new situation and I think it is appropriate that someone else can take on the next stage with a clean sheet of paper. I am obviously not satisfied with the bank’s financial results this year and for these reasons I have decided to resign my position,” Žiugžda said in a press release.

Raimondas Kvedaras fills the gap at the top of the bank leaving his previous post as member of the board and head of the corporate banking division at SEB Bank.

“I am aiming for closer supervision of the credit portfolio. This is the main objective. The second and most important goal — customers. They are currently experiencing the greatest downturn in history and our concern is to communicate with customers, try to deal with their problems and consult” Kvedaras told local business daily Verslo Žinios.

Kvedaras, 50, joined SEB as a member of the board in 1992 and has been with the bank  since. He has also worked for the central bank and the Lithuanian Credit Center over his 27 years in the banking sector.

Both SEB and Swedbank, the two biggest banks in the region, have lost significant amounts of money this year.

Arturas Feiferas, a member of the board and head of credit and risk management division, has also decided to leave the bank and will be replaced by Roberts Bernis, who is currently a member of the board and head of the credit division at SEB Bank Latvia.