In upside-down world, Swedish banks plead for tougher regulation
reuters.com, Johan Ahlander – 23/07/15
It is not often you hear banks pleading for tougher regulations, but in Sweden some of the industry’s top executives are demanding government action to head off a potential asset price bubble that threatens the Nordic country’s AAA-rated economy. Sweden has negative interest rates to tackle the risk of deflation. But with the economy growing strongly, this is fuelling household debt, property prices and the stock market to levels many economists think could become dangerous. “It is clear that the risks of an unsustainable development in various asset classes is increasing with each day in the absence of powerful political reforms,” Swedbank Chief Executive Michael Wolf told reporters last week.
