The Swedish government proposes new legislation on criminal liability for unlawful financial activities

In government bill 2025/26:42, the Swedish government has presented a proposal for new legislation introducing criminal liability for unlawful financial activities.

The aim is to strengthen supervision and safeguard confidence in the financial system by creating opportunities to act against those who conduct financial activities without the necessary licence or registration from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.

The proposal means that anyone who intentionally, or through gross negligence, conducts financial activities that require a licence or registration without the necessary approval may be convicted of the crime of unlawful financial activities. The penalty is proposed to be a fine or imprisonment for up to two years, and, in serious cases, imprisonment for six months to six years. Minor cases are exempt from criminal liability.

Unlike the previous proposal in the memorandum Criminal liability for those who conduct financial activities without a licence or registration, etc., where negligence was proposed to lead to criminal liability, the government now proposes that criminal liability should require gross negligence or intention. According to the government bill, gross negligence should not be deemed to exist if the person has made serious efforts to ascertain whether a licence or registration is required.

If the activity is carried out by a legal entity, general principles of corporate liability apply, meaning that formal representatives (in Swedish limited liability companies: the board of directors and the CEO) bear criminal liability for unlawful financial activities.

The new law is proposed to enter into force on 1 March 2026.

The full text of the government bill can be found here (in Swedish).

For questions, please contact Carl Johan Zimdahl, Oscar Gerdhem, or Oliver Friberg.