Banks in Europe Embrace Weapons Finance Amid Sudden Shift (2)

After years spent treating weapons manufacturers with caution, bankers in Europe are now positioning themselves for closer relations with the defense industry.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led Germany -- Europe’s biggest economy -- to abandon its decades-old aversion to military spending, and instead embrace what Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called a “new era” of investment. For banks and asset managers, the development means a group of clients that until recently had been kept at arm’s length is now being invited to seek financing.

SEB AB, one of Sweden’s biggest banks, said this week it’s reversing a ban ...