DN Debate. Swedbankskandalen shows the need for EU banking union

After the financial crisis, established the EU's banking union in the year 2012-13. It is a term for the new rules and institutions to ensure an effective supervision of banks ' behaviour, based on strict common rules in the EU, and mainly in the euro area. The banking union is taking a particular view on the large, ”systemically important” banks, i.e. banks by the size such as Swedbank, Danske Bank, Nordea, Handelsbanken and SEB.

By stricter rules and an effective control of compliance to consumers and their deposits are protected against the neglected banks, and taxpayers will be protected against their governments pumping huge sums of taxpayers ' money in failing banks. The aim is both to prevent banking crises from occurring, as to have effective rules for how a banking crisis should be handled when they occur.

When the issue became topical for Sweden 2012 handled it in an uncomfortable skeptical compound of the Moderates and the social democrats. During the decision-making process was never in any doubt of these parties: Sweden would not join. Our country could certainly cope with the supervision and crisis management better on their own. As late as last year wrote the otherwise often vettige Gunnar Hökmark (M) that Sweden ”should not abstain from the Swedish control of the Swedish banking market in times of crisis” (DI 13/6 2018).

in Sweden We focused errors, namely Germany, and others the main problem with neglected and obeståndsriskabla banks in Southern europe, instead, to think of our own potential problems with the financial flows from Russia and the former soviet republics, their corrupt banks, politicians and shady oligarchs.

But it is badly thought out! It is on the contrary good, with increased transparency and influence of third parties, for example through the EU, and especially in a crisis. Right are national leaders namely, under the strong political pressure for with taxpayers ' money to rescue crisis-ridden banks and their owners. The individual's resistance will therefore be greater towards the requirements in to save the owners if the country were fully included in a strict regulatory framework of the banking union and the European central Bank (ECB).

: the decision-Makers – including myself as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on EU affairs and member of the committee on finance – then focused solely on the risk of banking crises in other EUROPEAN countries would force the Swedish government spending in order to save their crisis-ridden banks, mainly in Southern europe. It was the threat.

the Proposal for a banking union in the EU, which came from the ECB, Germany and other normally well-kept EUROPEAN countries, discussed never as a potentially important banking supervision methodology for the us in the region to acquire a better control over the laundering of criminal Russian money and skattefiffel in the higher school. In Sweden we focused errors, namely Germany, and others the main problem with neglected and obeståndsriskabla banks in Southern europe, instead, to think of our own potential problems with the financial flows from Russia and the former soviet republics, their corrupt banks, politicians and shady oligarchs. The latter is obviously willing to pay a lot to find ways around western sanctions policy, especially after the Russian invasion of Crimea.

since Then, unfortunately, it is also Danish banks devoted themselves to tax services that promoted tax evasion through, for example, the law firm of Mossack Fonseca in Panama, not least the money laundering by Danske Bank in Estonia. The bank was forced to close all operations in the Baltic countries and Russia, and announced that it now focuses on its nordic core business. The ceo and the chairman of the board was discharged.

the Greatest scandal when it comes to money laundering, however, it seems to be able to become Swedbank through its operations in the Baltic countries. It is the largest bank in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Just the business in Estonia is so far examined. It should not be excluded that the end result is that Swedbank is forced to cease its operations in the Baltic region, such as Danske Bank.

To join the banking union is, according to prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen a part of the answer on the Danish banks ' money laundering and their participation to the withholding tax. ”We had (in Denmark) been a member of the banking union, the cooperation between the Danish and the Estonian financial supervisory authority have been more given in advance. I can't say that penningtvättskandalen (Danske Bank) had been revealed previously, but the probability that it had been better cooperation between the authorities of the two states had been far greater.” To be in the banking union is, " says Rasmussen, in Denmark's interest. ”What I have seen in the last few months, pulling in the direction of that Denmark should participate in the banking union” (Policy 18/10, 2018).

It is obvious that confidence in the national regulatory authorities has been damaged by penningtvättskandalerna. The thing is also that Swedbank is a folkrörelsebank, with a weak owner that lacks the uncompromising kapitalisters vinstfokus and hard hands, and has traditionally close contacts with the labor movement and the earth and skogsbrukskooperationens interests. To clear up Swedbankskandalen is a test of Sweden's willingness and ability to wash their own byken, publish everything, and possibly restart operations in the Baltic states, and to take the sharp decision to join the EU's banking union.

Membership in the banking union is of course not the only measure, but a litmus test on the political Sweden's willingness to clear up the scandal.

the Question of membership of the banking union is today the subject of investigations both in Sweden and in Denmark. Both should be published later in the year. But, the decision on Swedish membership can never be reduced to a tjänstemannaprodukt. It is a fundamentally political decision for government and parliament. The issue of how Sweden should adapt to the EU's banking union should also be discussed in the EU-election campaign. Just as in Denmark, the banking union, a well-known and the issue is familiar. Swedish politicians should take the initiative. Our politicians should be required to share their views on membership of the EU banking union. And the desire to get to the bottom of Swedbankskandalen in the Baltic states should be seen.