* Q2 op profit 5.3 bln SEK vs forecast 5.0 bln     * Commission income up 10 pct from a year ago     * SEB benefited from increased corporate activity   (Adds detail, quotes)     STOCKHOLM, July 14 (Reuters) - Swedish banking group SEB  
   SEBa.ST
    reported on Monday a bigger-than-expected rise in second-quarter operating profit, riding a wave of deal activity in the corporate sector in the Nordics and Germany.     Buoyant equity markets and a return of corporate confidence has led many firms to go public or conduct deals in recent months and SEB is expected to benefit in the months ahead as recovery takes hold.     SEB, the first of the Swedish banks to report earnings for the quarter, said the global economy was on firmer ground in the first half of the year even though European growth was still hampered by high sovereign debt and unemployment.     Business sentiment had also turned more positive with commission income in the quarter at 4.2 billion Swedish crowns, up 10 percent from a year ago and above forecasts.     "However, we are experiencing extraordinary times with very low inflation, low interest rates and more than six years of central bank liquidity support in the euro zone and the U.S.," said CEO Annika Falkengren.     Sweden's central bank cut rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points earlier this month, taking the country's key policy rate to 0.25 percent in a battle to fight stubbornly weak inflation and support recovery.     Falkengren said loose monetary policy was causing a sharp increase in asset prices which lenders needed to watch carefully. The bank has initiated amortisation requirements on all new mortgages, she said.            Operating profit in the quarter rose to 5.3 billion Swedish crowns ($780 million), beating a mean forecast for 5.0 billion in a Reuters poll and compared with 4.8 billion in the year-ago period.     SEB shares, up about 30 percent from a year ago, have outperformed a near 12 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 banks index  
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   .     SEB's earnings contrast with results from Norway's biggest bank DNB  
   DNB.OL
    which last week reported earnings below forecast for the second quarter due to loan losses in its shipping portfolio.  
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        ($1 = 6.7950 Swedish Crowns)   (Reporting by Mia Shanley and Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard)  ((mia.shanley@thomsonreuters.com)(+4687001004)(Reuters Messaging: mia.shanley.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))  Keywords: SEB