Sweden Ousts Top Financial Services Regulator After Public Outcry

Sweden ousted the country’s chief financial regulator amid a controversy over an apparent conflict of interest.

Daniel Barr, head of the Financial Supervisory Authority, will leave his position on June 19 to work at another government office, according to a statement from the minister of financial markets on Thursday.

He has overseen the FSA while it audits his work from a prior position, putting him in an “unusual situation,” it said.

Questions have been swirling in recent weeks on how Barr can steer an organization that is probing bets in landlord Heimstaden Bostad by Pensionsmyndigheten. He was leading the pensions agency during the same period that is under investigation.

“It’s important that the authority can focus on its mission and maintain a foundation of trust,” Minister of Financial Markets Niklas Wykman said in the statement.

Still, Barr hasn’t been involved in the processing of the Heimstaden Bostad probe after recusing himself in September 2023. He has said lawyers had “carefully reviewed” the conditions for the investment and that their conclusions differed from the FSA’s when it last month issued a reprimand to Pensionsmyndigheten.

Barr will instead work at government offices, where several former agency heads are employed as their appointments as director generals can’t be immediately revoked. In his new role, Barr will investigate how to strengthen the functioning of the Swedish bond market, Wykman said.

Malin Alpen, head of payments at the FSA, will take the position of acting director general until a replacement for Barr has been hired.

Barr joined the FSA in March 2023 after his predecessor, Erik Thedeen, left to become governor of the Riksbank. He’d previously also worked at Sweden’s National Debt Office and insurer Folksam, among others.

Photograph: The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority headquarters in Stockholm. Photo credit: Casper Hedberg/Bloomberg

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