The Debt Office took over Carnegie earlier this month when a liquidity crunch left the Swedish bank drained of funds. The takeover was announced on the same day the firm lost its license due to a series of management lapses.

“The National Debt Office, with the assistance of consultants, has analyzed the companies and we assess that it is best to sell the companies separately,” the agency said in a statement.

“Max Matthiessen is not integrated in the investment bank and the debt office also believes there is a group of buyers that are only interested in the insurance brokerage.”

National Debt Office head Bo Lundgren emphasized the importance of getting a deal done quickly.

“The faster we can do this, the better it is for the company and the employees. The state is not a good long term owner for this kind of company,” he said at a press conference.

Lundgren noted that a number of companies had already expressed interest in buying Carnegie Investment Bank and Max Matthiessen.

But he would not comment further on exactly which companies were interested or how many, although he did allow that being a Swedish company was not a requirement.

“Not, that’s not important. We don’t discriminate against anyone, but it should be a financially strong owner,” said Lundren.