A stable, well-functioning financial market for allA stable, well-functioning financial market for allFI strengthens its international supervisory collaboration against money laundering
“We are taking the initiative to strengthen our international supervisory collaboration against money laundering and we are redistributing our own resources to increase our supervision capacity,” says FI’s Director General Erik Thedéen after today’s meeting with Minister for Financial Markets and Housing Per Bolund.
Erik Thedéen was called to a meeting with the Minister for Financial Markets and Housing today to account for and answer questions about FI's work to prevent money laundering after the recent reports in the media about suspicious transactions in Swedish banks' Baltic subsidiaries.
The information provided to the Minister was based on a memorandum that also serves as the basis for the presentation Erik Thedéen will hold for the Committee on Finance of the Riksdag tomorrow, Thursday, 7 March.
"The banks' management and boards of directors must take money laundering matters seriously and ensure that compliance with the laws and regulations is group-wide. This is the banks' responsibility. FI is responsible for checking that the banks have established systems and procedures to prevent them from being used for money laundering," says Erik Thedéen.
He presented FI's actions to the Minister for Financial Markets and Housing:
- FI has initiated an investigation together with the supervisory authorities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Swedish banks' handling of money laundering. FI and the other authorities are working together to determine the scope and focus of the investigations. This work also includes determining the period of time and the firms that will be investigated and how the work will be divided between the authorities.
- FI is also in agreement with the other authorities in the Nordic and Baltic countries that the ongoing work must be significantly strengthened. FI will arrange a meeting in the near future for the highest responsible persons at FI's counterparts in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The intention is to create a closer strategic and operational collaboration for how they can enhance anti-money laundering efforts within the financial sector in the region through more coordinated supervision.
- FI will redistribute its own resources already in 2019 to immediately strengthen its money laundering supervision. On 21 February FI also decided in its annual budget basis to request an additional SEK 10 million per year in appropriations to strengthen money laundering supervision from 2020 onward. The Government and Parliament will decide on FI's request in the autumn when the Budget Bill is processed.
