” 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.”
The most common method for producing crypto-assets requires enormous amounts of electricity and generates large CO2 emissions. Crypto-asset producers are keen to use more renewable energy, and they are increasing their presence in the Nordic region. Sweden needs the renewable energy targeted by crypto-asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services, and increased use by miners threatens our ability to meet the Paris Agreement. Energy-intensive mining of crypto-assets should therefore be prohibited. This is the conclusion of the director generals of both the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Karin Lundberg, Executive Director of Banking, talked about Finansinspektionen’s view on capital and distributions in a speech at the UBS Annual Nordic Financial Services Conference.
“The technology behind crypto-assets has the potential to create value for society, but crypto-assets like Bitcoin also pose significant risks,” said Erik Thedéen, when he spoke about the development of crypto-assets today at a seminar arranged by the Swedish Investor Relations Association.
Climate change is an existential threat to mankind. In order to meet this threat, we need extensive policy decisions. In particular, carbon prices must go up. The private sector and the financial market can contribute, said Finansinspektionen’s Director General Erik Thedéen at the Hållbara Finanser 2021 conference (Sustainable Finances). By already preparing now to be able to quickly report in accordance with future international standards on corporate sustainability reporting and also voluntarily using and reporting internal carbon pricing.
Henrik Braconier, Chief Economist at FI, spoke on risks related to low interest rates at SNS/SHOF’s Finance Panel: Corporate Finance in a Low Interest Rate Environment.
Erik Thedéen, Finansinspektionen's Director General and Chair of IOSCO's Task Force on Sustainable Finance made a speech at the conference Driving Global Standards on Sustainable Finance.
FI's Director General Erik Thedéen took part in a panel discussion during the conference "Consumer Behavior in Financial Markets", arranged by the Swedish House of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics today.
“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.
The rate at which household debt is increasing has slowed the past three years. The two amortisation requirements that FI introduced contributed to this change. But the low interest rates entail risks. The debt of commercial real estate companies has been increasing sharply, and the banks have large exposures to the sector. FI decided today to raise the capital requirements for bank loans for commercial real estate. Erik Thedéen also noted that cyber threats are a challenge facing society as a whole, and cooperation is needed on a broad front.
“We need to make advancements in the fight against money laundering here and now, within the current system and regulatory framework,” asserted Erik Thedéen at the Swedish Bankers’ Association’s annual Bank Meeting.
FI’s Director General spoke today at the Finansdagen conference in Stockholm.
At a conference today, Deputy Director General Martin Noréus shared his views on capital adequacy in Swedish banks and how capital adequacy will be impacted by forthcoming regulations. Mr. Noréus also gave a process update on ongoing AML investigations and concluded that money-laundering risks will become a bigger consideration in prudential supervision.
Erik Thedéen made the introductory speech at the first IOSCO SFN Stakeholder Meeting in Stockholm.
FI’s Director General participated in the seminar Evolution of Mortgage Finance arranged by Stabelo for a broad group of institutional investors.
Erik Thedéen, Director General of Finansinspektionen, took part in a seminar on “The Banking Union from a Nordic-Baltic perspective” arranged today by SIEPS and the Swedish Government’s “Committee on Potential Participation in the European Banking Union”.
Thedéen discussed the impact of high household debt on financial stability and sustainable economic growth as well as the role of macroprudential policy at the 7th FIN-FSA conference on EU Regulation and Supervision.
Despite the positive progression over the past few weeks, there is still some uncertainty surrounding Brexit. FI has previously identified the limited access to clearing services as one of the consequences of Brexit that could have a major impact on Swedish firms. The European Commission’s communication that it will take action to manage risks to financial stability that are associated with clearing is therefore welcomed. At the same time, though, a hard Brexit could create other types of frictions that affect Swedish firms. It is therefore of utmost importance that Swedish firms continue to prepare for Brexit.
Affordable housing and household indebtedness is increasingly the focus of the public debate in many countries. Erik Thedéen participated in a plenary panel together with representatives from Australia, Canada and Ireland to discuss what can be done to manage systemic risks and maintain healthy housing markets.
Discussing how the banks will withstand the next crisis is undoubtedly asuitable topic in October 2018, which marks exactly ten years since the mostdifficult phase of the financial crisis.
The procyclical nature of the financial sector tends to amplify cycles and may turn a severe downturn into a financial crisis. One of FI’s tasks is to mitigate this pro-cyclicality.
A speech given by Erik Thedéen, FI's Director General, at the UBS Annual Nordic Financial Services Conference in Stockholm today.
“The Swedish banking sector is profitable and has satisfactory resilience, but it is clearly undergoing a major transformation,” said Martin Noréus in a speech at SvD Bank Summit in Stockholm.
Finansinspektionen is responsible for macroprudential policy in Sweden, which includes both promoting financial stability and counteracting financial imbalances. We are also tasked with promoting a high level of consumer protection on the financial markets. One of the reasons that we have been given the responsibility for macroprudential policy is that financial crises have proven themselves to be very expensive.
Finansinspektionens Director General Erik Thedéens speech in the Standing Committee on Finance the 23 januari 2018.
“The fundamental problem is the potential conflict that inherently arises from the interplay between economic incentives and excessive risk-taking”, said Erik Thedéen in a speech on Thursday at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. Erik Thedéen analysed the causes underlying this problem and presented some of the measures introduced to mitigate it.
FI:s director general Erik Thedéens speech about commercial real estate and financial stability held at the conference DI Bank in Stockholm 10 maj 2017.
The financial crisis in 2008-09 demonstrated just how vulnerable the international financial system was and had enormous consequences for the economies in the western hemisphere. Even if traditional stabilisation policy tools, such as monetary and fiscal policy, were able to mitigate the crisis, they did not successfully prevent the build-up of risk that occurred over a long period of time prior to the crisis. The crisis therefore triggered the development of macroprudential policy, which aims to reduce the risk of financial crises and their subsequent effects.” It is with these words that Erik Thedéen began his speech at Finansdagen in Stockholm.
Erik Thedéen, FI's Director General, speech at the UBS conference: 20th Annual Nordic Financial Services Conference in Stockholm.
Erik Thedéen, FI's Director General, took part in a panel discussion arranged by Alecta today entitled Incentives for significant allocation of long term capital towards investments for a resilient and sustainable society. Erik Thedéen talked about sustainability work within the financial sector.