Regulations

All of FI’s regulations can be found under this link:

• FI's Regulatory Code (FFFS)

FI's regulations and general guidelines

FI's Regulatory Code includes regulations and general guidelines that supplement the basic rules set out in acts and ordinances and provide more detail when needed.

Regulations are binding rules that companies are obligated to follow. FI needs to have authorisation from the government to issue regulations.

General guidelines are not binding rules but rather a recommendation on how a company can go about following a binding provision that the guidelines relate to. A company thus has the opportunity to do things differently than instructed in the general guidelines as long as they comply with the binding provision. Government authorisation is not required for FI to issue general guidelines within its area.

EU Legislation

EU Directives are implemented in Sweden via new acts. Swedish acts are passed by Parliament and ordinances are passed by the Government.

In addition to EU Directives there are also EU Regulations, which are directly binding once they have been adopted by the EU Parliament and the European Council. EU Regulations therefore apply in the same manner as Swedish acts.

The EU's supervisory authorities for the financial sector, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), have prepared additional regulatory frameworks, for example proposed technical standards, which are prepared for both supervision and implementation. The supervisory authorities then turn, in this case, these technical standards over to the European Commission, which has been authorised to adopt them as EU Regulations. Technical standards therefore apply in the same manner as Swedish acts.

EBA, EIOPA and ESMA also prepare guidelines and recommendations, which have the same status as FI's general guidelines. In other words, they must be followed but firms are allowed to determine the manner in which they meet the regulations.

EU's supervisory authority also publishes opinions and questions and answers in order to provide guidance when in interpreting various regulations. It may be to the firms' benefit to read these documents, but they are under no obligation to do so.