Major banks need to rectify deficiencies in the payments infrastructure

All banks and payment services providers that perform electronic transfers within the EU must ensure that certain information about the payer and the payee is included with the transfers. Bank Girot is not specifically included in these requirements but plays a central role in the Swedish payment chain and is the only operations that has authorisation to conduct clearing of payments. This means that a large portion of the payments made within the country, for example invoices, salary deposits, and transfers between bank accounts, are compiled and controlled within the Bank Girot system.

However, the Bank Girot system has some limitations that entail that participating banks cannot meet the requirements in the anti-money laundering regulations on the transfer of information. Participants in the Bank Girot system are thus lacking the conditions to fully comply with the anti-money laundering regulations. Therefore, Bank Girot's Swedish owner banks, Handelsbanken, SEB and Swedbank, are ordered to take the measures necessary to ensure that the statutory information is included with transfers in Sweden.

"We have been monitoring for a long time how the owner banks are working on this matter and how they are planning to rectify the problem. We are now choosing to proceed with a strict time frame. We expect these deficiencies to be resolved," says FI Executive Director Malin Alpen.

FI would like to emphasise that the limitations in the Bank Girot system affect all Bank Girot and Data Clearing participants. However, FI is targeting the Bank Girot owners since they have the opportunity in practice to ensure that the deficiencies are rectified.

In terms of the foreign owner banks Danske Bank and Nordea, FI does not have the same legal basis for intervention. However, FI has contacted the relevant supervisory authorities in Denmark and Finland and informed them about the deficiencies in Bank Girot, and FI will follow up on this matter in the future.