UPDATE 1-Sampo seeks license to up Nordea stake

* Sampo seeks license to up Nordea stake above 20 pct

* Sampo says held 19.45 pct of Nordea on August 25

* Nordea CEO sees no insurance cooperation- paper (Adds detail, background, newspaper report)

HELSINKI, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Finnish insurer Sampo Oyj (SAMAS.HE) said on Thursday it would seek approval to increase its stake above 20 percent in Nordea Bank AB (NDA.ST), after having raised the stake during August to near the limit.

The group said in a statement it held 19.45 percent of Nordea shares on Aug. 25, up from 18.5 percent two weeks earlier.

Sampo Chief Executive Kari Stadigh said in August the firm would hike its holding in Nordea to 20 percent by year end, allowing it to consolidate the Nordic bank's result, but added it did not see the stake rising past 25 percent.

Nordea Chief Executive Christian Clausen, quoted by Finnish daily Turun Sanomat on Thursday, said he warmly welcomed Sampo as a long-term investor.

"But at this point there is no use in eyeing further conclusions on, for instance, cooperation between (Sampo's) If insurance company and Nordea. Ownership and these kinds of arrangements are separate things. If and Nordea have different business ideas," Clausen said. (Reporting by Eva Lamppu; Editing by David Holmes)