If the Stockholm district court convicts Swedbank’s former CEO Birgitte Bonnesen, she risks between six months and six years in prison. The prosecutor alleges that she is guilty of gross fraud and disclosure of insider information and calls for two years in prison.
SVT’s Uppdrag Granskning revealed in 2019 that Swedbank had let through suspected money laundering transactions worth SEK 40 billion.
That Swedbank was scrutinized in the media for suspected money laundering, the bank told the major shareholders before publication, while other shareholders were content with what was said publicly. But if insider information was revealed, there are divided opinions.
A fifth of the share value disappeared
Swedbank’s shareholders are still suffering financial damage from the scandal, says Joacim Olsson, CEO of the Aktiespararna organization.
“The immediate effect was that about a fifth of the share value disappeared. The uncertainty about additional fines from American authorities means that there is still a risk premium that puts negative pressure on the share price,” writes Joacim Olsson in a comment to SVT Nyheter.
The autumn trial has largely been about what Bonnesen actually knew about the risk of money laundering, because there were also his own, internal reports and an external report that pointed to risks that the bank was exploited. These therefore existed at the same time as Birgitte Bonnesen claimed the opposite. Reports that the defense claims that Bonnesen did not take note of.
The Financial Supervisory Authority praised the bank’s work
The defense has also described how the supervisory authority, the Financial Supervisory Authority, praised the bank’s work against money laundering.
The same Finansinspektion that subsequently gave Swedbank a warning and a fine of four billion kroner. The authority claimed that the bank had major shortcomings in its work to counter money laundering in the Baltics.
A conviction can have both moral and financial consequences, according to Aktiespararna.
“In the event of a conviction, it will ultimately be a person who has to take legal responsibility for how the scandal was handled, with misleading information to shareholders. It is possible that a guilty verdict could also trigger a financial liability claim from Swedbank towards Bonnesen,” writes Joacim Olsson.