News Money Laundering

2024

FI prioritizes particularly vulnerable sectors to combat money laundering

2024-04-17 | Payments Reports News

Money laundering is a global problem that allows criminals to transact large sums of money without revealing their illegal activities. In order to counteract the risk of money laundering, FI has identified a number of areas where the risks are assessed to be particularly large and that we will have an extra focus on during the year.

2023

Aros receives warning and administrative fine

Finansinspektionen has decided that Aros Kapital will receive a warning and an administrative fine of SEK 45 million.

Currency exchanger My Change Scandinavia must cease its operations

Finansinspektionen has decided to issue an injunction to the currency exchange company My Change Scandinavia AB (My Change) to immediately cease its operations. The reason is extensive and severe deficiencies in the firm’s work to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

My Change Scandinavia receives an injunction to cease its operations

Finansinspektionen is issuing an injunction to My Change Scandinavia AB (My Change) to cease its currency exchange operations. It shall have ceased its operations no later than 24 August 2023.

2022

2022:1 Asylum seekers’ access to financial services

In this document, FI states its position on asylum-seeking refugees’ access to financial services in cases where the asylum seeker is lacking identity documents. The position replaces FI's previous memorandum (FI Ref.16-2898).

Länsförsäkringar Bank is issued a remark and must pay administrative fine

Länsförsäkringar Bank has been deficient in its work to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The bank is therefore being issued a remark and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 90 million.

Länsförsäkringar Bank recieves a remark and must pay an administrative fine

Länsförsäkringar Bank has been deficient in its compliance with the anti-money laundering regulations. Finansinspektionen is therefore issuing Länsförsäkringar Bank a remark that will be accompanied by an administrative fine of SEK 90 million.

Money remittance provider Moneygram must resolve anti-money laundering deficiencies

The foreign money remittance provider Moneygram International SPRL has not had a sufficient scope in the general risk assessment of its operations in Sweden to its assessment of the risk of being used for money laundering or terrorist financing. Therefore, FI has decided to issue an injunction to Moneygram to resolve the deficiencies by 30 December of this year.

Moneygram receives injunction to take remedial action

Moneygram International SPRL has not applied a sufficient scope to its assessment of the risks of its operations in Sweden being used for money laundering. Moneygram must resolve these deficiencies no later than 30 December 2022.

Trustly and ClearOn each receive a warning and an administrative fine

Finansinspektionen (FI) issues payment service companies Trustly Group AB (Trustly) and ClearOn AB (ClearOn) warnings for severe deficiencies under the anti-money laundering regulatory framework.

ClearOn receives warning and administrative fine

ClearOn is receiving a warning and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 14 million.

Trustly Group receives warning and administrative fine

Trustly Group AB is receiving a warning and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 130  million. The company is also ordered to address certain deficiencies.

2021

Erik Thedéen: Crypto-assets today and in the future

” Ultimately, this is about energy efficiency. Energy is a scarce resource, and as a society, we have invested heavily in energy-efficiency improvements across all sectors. We need to consider a similar technology shift for crypto-assets.”

Updates in reporting AML

New reporting questions in 2022

Danske Bank has deficiencies in its anti-money laundering work

Danske Bank has not sufficiently assessed the risk of how the bank’s products and services in Sweden may be used for money laundering and terrorist financing. Danske Bank must therefore rectify these deficiencies no later than June 30, 2022.

Danske Bank receives injunction to take remedial action

Danske Bank has not sufficiently assessed the risk of how the bank’s products and services in Sweden may be used for money laundering and terrorist financing. Danske Bank therefore must rectify this deficiency no later than 30 June 2022.

FI Supervision Report 23: Observations from anti-money laundering reporting

FI has analysed and compared information that firms under FI’s money laundering supervision reported to the authority during the years 2018-2021. The analysis indicates areas where the companies need to develop their processes to better handle the risk of being misused for money laundering or terrorist financing.

FI’s prioritised areas for 2021

Are the banks conducting thorough credit assessments when customers apply for consumer credit? Are smaller banks and payment service firms taking sufficient measures to prevent money laundering? What risks will the coronavirus pandemic pose in the future? These are three areas that Finansinspektionen (FI) will look more closely at in 2021.

Finansinspektionen’s prioritised areas for 2021

Consumer protection, money laundering and risks that the coronavirus pandemic may pose in the future are three areas that FI will look more closely at in 2021.

2020

SEB receives an administrative fine for deficiencies in its work to combat money laundering in the Baltics

SEB has not sufficiently identified the risk of money laundering in its Baltic operations and has had deficiencies in its governance and control of the Baltic subsidiary banks’ anti-money laundering measures. SEB is therefore being issued a remark and an administrative fine of SEK 1 billion.

SEB receives remark and administrative fine of SEK 1 billion

SEB receives a remark and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 1 billion for deficiencies in its work to prevent money laundering risks.

FI will hold press conference about SEB

Finansinspektionen (FI) will hold a press conference on Thursday, 25 June, following the Board of Directors’ decision regarding the investigation into SEB AB’s governance and control of measures to combat money laundering in the bank’s subsidiaries in the Baltic countries.

JAK Medlemsbank receives a remark and an administrative fine

JAK Medlemsbank (JAK) has been deficient in its work to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The bank is therefore being issued a remark and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 1.6 million.

JAK Medlemsbank receives a remark and an administrative fine

Finansinspektionen is issuing JAK Medlemsbank (516401-9969) a remark. JAK Medlemsbank must also pay an administrative fine of SEK 1.6 million.

Reporting on money laundering postponed

2020-04-01 | Coronavirus EBA News

Due to the current situation with the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, Finansinspektionen has postponed the deadline for the annual reporting on money laundering and financing of terrorism. The deadline has been pushed forward from 31 March 2020 to 30 April 2020.

FI delays decision on SEB until June

FI is delaying the decision that will conclude the ongoing sanction assessment in the investigation into the governance and control of anti-money laundering measures at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB). FI is now planning to pass its decision in June.

Swedbank receives a warning and an administrative fine of SEK 4 billion

Swedbank AB receives a warning and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 4 billion for serious deficiencies in its work to combat money laundering.

Swedbank fined for serious deficiencies in its measures to combat money laundering

Swedbank AB has had serious deficiencies in its management of the risk of money laundering in its Baltic operations. This is the conclusion of parallel investigations into parent company Swedbank AB and its subsidiary bank Swedbank AS in Estonia that were conducted by Swedish Finansinspektionen (FI) and Estonian Finantsinspektsioon.

FI will hold a press conference related to Swedbank

Finansinspektionen (FI) will hold a press conference on Thursday, 19 March, following the decision by FI’s Board of Directors regarding the investigation into Swedbank’s measures to combat money laundering.

Measures to improve effectiveness of anti-money laundering supervision

“There are interesting ideas about placing parts of this supervision at the EU level. I believe that joint analytical resources and supervision methods in the long run could lead to more effective supervision, in part due to improved insight into cross-border payment flows”, asserted Erik Thedéen at the international conference Finance Summit 2020 in Paris.