Swedish vs EU legislation

Due to sharply increased risk weights for loans for the construction of commercial real estate, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority requires that 3 of Sweden's largest banks increase their equity by just over 1.5 billion.

This, together with the fact that the banks have been taken with their fingers in the cookie jar regarding money laundering and thus have or will be sentenced to heavy fines, has meant that Swedbank, for example, has had to cut its dividend by almost 40%. Swedbank has been seen as being a generous and strong player will now see their brand edged.However, this reform is lacking support in upcoming EU legislation which will come into force by the end of 2020.

The outcome of this remains to be seen.