Six out of ten say that sustainability is important when saving money. Advisors at banks, investment firms and insurance intermediaries have an obligation to take into account consumers’ sustainability preferences. This does not always happen. Instead, many consumers currently face a risk of investing in products that do not correspond to their expectations when it comes to sustainability. This is the conclusion FI draws from its analysis, and we are now encouraging firms to devote a special focus to this topic.
The process for product approval is central from a consumer protection perspective. It aims to ensure that insurance undertakings focus on consumer interests when they develop and maintain insurance products. In an in-depth analysis that Finansinspektionen has conducted, we have seen a number of good examples of how undertakings work with and apply this process.
FI has conducted an investigation into a number of credit institutions’ exposures, risk measurement and management of counterparty risk and credit valuation adjustment (CVA) risk related to positions in financial derivatives.
Finansinspektionen (FI) conducted a survey of twenty insurance firms and determined that the firms in general handle complaints in a satisfactory manner, but there is room for improvement.
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 conducted a thematic review of the market for financial instruments with crypto-assets as an underlying asset. FI is of the view that there is a lack of adequate consumer protection regulation for crypto-assets. Valuing them is also challenging and the instruments are volatile. This makes the products unsuitable for most, if not all, retail consumers.
The majority of the distribution on the life insurance market occurs through external distribution channels. It is therefore important for insurance firms to fulfil their responsibility to choose suitable distribution channels for the target market and follow up that the insurance products are distributed to the proper target group.
Many banks are working actively with continuity management and have implemented key measures to reduce the risk of serious disruptions. At the same time, FI sees a need for the banks to further strengthen their continuity management. FI expects the banks to continue to focus on enhancing the resilience of their critical functions. This supervision report describes the areas where FI would like to see improvements.
Transparency on the Swedish bond markets has decreased. This is the conclusion of Finansinspektionen’s (FI) analysis of the impact of the transparency rules that were introduced when the Directive and the Regulation for the securities market entered into force in 2018.
Finansinspektionen (FI) has conducted a survey of how insurance undertakings are performing their own risk and solvency assessments. FI is of the opinion that many undertakings’ assessments can be improved.
Several banks are working to develop and enhance their information and cyber security. Some have not yet fully adapted their work to the changed conditions introduced by increased digitalisation and an increased level of cyber threats. FI expects that the banks will continue to focus on developing their information- and cyber security abilities, and keep managing and monitoring their information and cyber risks.
In general, the insurance undertakings employ adequate governance and control practices in their ICT operations. But FI has also observed that some undertakings have difficulties identifying and managing the consequences of outsourced ICT operations.
The banks give greater consideration to sustainability aspects in their lending to corporates. However, FI sees a need for more transparency and comparability in the area of sustainability.
The fund industry has created through its self-regulation an information standard that fund managers must use when providing the information needed for a consumer to understand a fund’s management with regard to sustainability. Finansinspektionen (FI) conducted a survey in the summer of 2018 to follow up on and evaluate the industry’s self-regulation in the area.
Over the past year, FI has primarily intervened against small-volume trading and ”wash trades” that were carried out deliberately or negligently by private individuals. The financial undertakings’ reporting plays a key role in FI’s possibilities for intervening against market abuse. FI’s cooperation with EBM has contributed to the development of this work. These are the three conclusions in FI’s report, Market Abuse 2017–2018.
FI has surveyed 25 funds of funds managed by 25 fund management companies and AIF managers. FI has scrutinised how the consumer is informed about fees and how the managers have reported their funds of funds’ objectives and performance.
Finansinspektionen (FI) has conducted a survey of the management of market risks by savings banks and of their holdings in financial assets. FI’s assessment is that the majority of savings banks are managing their market risks in an acceptable manner.
Pursuant to the Supervision of Public-Interest Entities (Audit) Act (2016:429), FI is responsible for conducting certain audit supervision activities. FI has conducted an investigation into this supervisory area in 2017. This report provides an overview of the investigation’s results and describes FI’s view on how the regulations can be applied.
It is FI’s assessment that firms in general have a greater awareness of the regulations than in previous investigations and are committing more resources to their work to prevent money laundering. But more needs to be done.
In order for an insurance firm to be able to fulfil its obligations to its customers, the firm needs to have sufficient capital to manage its risk, good internal governance and good control of its risks. Ensuring that these requirements are met is the focus of FI’s supervision of insurance firms.
This year’s supervision report describes, at an overarching level, the Swedish banking system, how FI works with supervision and a number of topical risk areas currently in focus.
In 2016, FI's analysis of trends and risks on the securities market focused on the subareas fixed income market, derivatives market and equity market.
FI has observed deficiencies in the insurance undertakings' practical management of surplus and in their internal guidelines for and information to their customers about their surplus management.
FI is issuing its Securities Market Supervision Report for the second consecutive year. The report discusses the issues that FI currently considers to be most relevant. FI also describes in the report the developments on the Swedish securities market over the past year.
The objective of Finansinspektionen's supervision of insurance undertakings is to monitor their ability to fulfil their commitments to customers, and to monitor that customers receive comprehensible and accurate information. This report focuses on the first of the above-mentioned primary objectives.
Three key areas are the focus of FI's new report Supervision of the securities market; financial infrastructure, transparency on the securities market as well as new rules for market supervision and the enforcement of financial information.
Many of the development trends in today’s financial markets raise important issues for FI. For consumers, greater mobility and increasingly complex financial products represent not only more opportunities but also higher risks. FI needs to bring attention to these risks and resolve them.
The issues presented in this year’s Supervision Report stem from the work on financial consumer protection, financial stability and the requirements on company owners and management. In addition, the report discusses the increased international work, primarily within the EU.
Finansinspektionen's annual Supervision Report discusses areas in which fundamental issues with regard to supervision and regulatory development have risen to the forefront and in turn have resulted in new lessons and conclusions.
FI's annual Supervision Report describes the lessons learned from the financial crisis as well as more general issues regarding consumer protection.
The basic aims of market regulation are in part to safeguard consumer interests on the financial markets, and in part to promote more efficient markets in a broad sense – these two aims very often coincide. The aims also have a clear underlying common denominator; that is,the desire to ensure all players the high quality level of information needed for them to reasonably assert themselves on the market. The basic problem that market regulation must address regards the uneven access to information and know-how, between various professional players as well as between professional players and households.