The financial infrastructure in Sweden is still secure and efficient

5/10/2016 The Riksbank works regularly to identify and analyse possible risks and efficiency losses in the financial infrastructure of Sweden, as well as working to minimise this in our system. The latest year’s development and situation is now being reported by Riksbanken.

A number of measures that contribute to increased security and efficiency in the infrastructure are currently being put in place

  • The introduction of a new requirement for central counterpart clearing of OTC derivatives in SEK means better management of counterpart risks.
  • A new payment service directive allows for increased competition and less risk in the payment market.
  • All financial infrastructure companies have sufficient tools to carry out a running analysis of risks connected to indirect participants.

Other activities have been identified that should be started up to further increase security and efficiency

  • Both Euroclear Sweden and its participants must ensure sufficient resources for the ongoing system change for settlement of securities, which is being undertaken to meet the new requirements in the EU directive CSDR.  
  • The European Commission should work to develop regulations for recovery and resolution of central counterparts.
  • Companies should continue to take measures for and manage risks of cyber threats. This work should take place at a strategic level and be integrated into the framework for information security.  

Read the complete report from Riksbanken

You will find more information about the work of Riksbanken, the analysis and recommendations in the report Finansiell Infrastruktur 2016 >>

An enabler - The Swedish financial infrastructure

The Swedish financial infrastructure enables individual households, businesses and authorities to make and receive payments in a secure, efficient manner. It also makes it possible to pay for and deliver shares, interest-bearing securities and other financial instruments traded in financial markets securely and efficiently.

The infrastructure consists of systems where payments are carried out and transactions in financial instruments are processed and it plays a central role in and is a prerequisite for  ensuring that the financial system functions. The Swedish systems are comprised of:

  • The RIX system - payment system for large payments
  • Bankgirot - the system for clearing Retail payments
  • Euroclear Sweden - the securities register centre and system for clearing securities
  • NASDAQ Clearing - central counterpart for derivatives