Swedish FSA to Review Swedbank's AML Compliance and Customer Checks

By Johan Ahlander

Regulatory Scope and Market Impact

STOCKHOLM, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Sweden's financial regulator said on Friday it will investigate whether Swedbank's customer checks were sufficient to meet the country's anti-money-laundering rules, in a fresh setback for the banking group following the end of a U.S. probe.

Scope and Timeline of Review

The investigation will cover the period from December 2023 to November 2025 and will include the bank's due diligence measures, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) said in a statement.

"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," it told Reuters.

Is the Probe Routine?

The FSA did not say whether the investigation was a routine measure or prompted by suspicions of wrongdoing.

Market Reaction

Shares in Swedbank fell 1.3% at 0845 GMT, underperforming the European banking index, which was up 0.4%.

Statements From FSA and Swedbank

Swedbank referred all questions regarding the investigation to the FSA when contacted by Reuters.

Context: U.S. DOJ Outcome

The investigation into the country's biggest mortgage lender follows a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged money laundering which was closed in January without any fine. The DOJ probe into Swedbank was tied to a Baltic money-laundering scandal that first erupted at Danske Bank.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander in Stockholm and Terje Solsvik in Oslo, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Elaine Hardcastle)