Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) announced on Friday that it will investigate Swedbank’s customer due diligence processes to determine if they adequately meet the country’s anti-money-laundering regulations. This probe represents a new challenge for the banking group, especially following the recent conclusion of a U.S. investigation. Swedbank is a major financial institution, and one of Sweden’s largest mortgage lenders. The bank provides a wide range of financial services to individuals and businesses.
The FSA stated that the investigation will span from December 2023 to November 2025 and will focus on the bank’s due diligence measures. The regulator highlighted the importance of robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures within financial institutions. “How banks and financial companies counter risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in their operations is a priority issue in the FSA’s supervision in 2026,” the FSA told Reuters.
The FSA did not specify whether the investigation was initiated as a routine measure or due to specific suspicions of misconduct. When contacted by Reuters, Swedbank directed all inquiries regarding the investigation to the FSA.
News of the investigation impacted Swedbank’s stock, with shares declining by 1.3% at 0845 GMT. This performance was weaker than the broader European banking index (.SX7P), which saw a gain of 0.4%. This new investigation follows a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged money laundering, which concluded in January without any fines levied against Swedbank. The earlier DOJ probe was linked to a broader Baltic money-laundering scandal that initially surfaced at Danske Bank.
