Avdelare

About the Association

The vision of the Association for Generally Accepted Principles in the Securities Market (the Association) is that the Swedish securities market will be one of the most well-functioning, long-term sustainable and confidence-inspiring in Europe.

The Association’s mission is to pursue relevant issues that support and promote the efficiency, resilience and robustness of the Swedish securities market, which in turn benefits Sweden's corporate sector and society.

The Association is a non-profit organisation that operates on the principle of self-regulation, which means that experts from different fields collaborate on the setting of regulations and standards, interpret regulations and review how the sector complies with regulations. It is made up of five executive bodies. The Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) has delegated certain tasks to two of these.

The Swedish Securities Council (Aktiemarknadsnämnden) issues rulings, advice and information on good practice in the Swedish stock market, and the Financial Supervisory Authority has delegated the right to issue rulings on public takeover bids;
The Stock Market Self-Regulation Committee (Aktiemarknadens självregleringskommitté) produces and administers rules and recommendations for the stock market regarding public takeover bids (the Takeover Rules), remuneration of senior executives, incentive programmes and private placements in listed companies;
The Swedish Corporate Governance Board (Kollegiet för svensk bolagsstyrning) develops and manages the Swedish Corporate Governance Code (“Koden för bolagsstyrning”);
The Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision (Nämnden för svensk redovisningstillsyn) scrutinises the financial reporting of Swedish listed companies, a task delegated by the Financial Supervisory Authority;
The Swedish Financial Reporting Board (Rådet för finansiell rapportering) adapts and develops good accounting practice and regular financial reporting for Swedish listed companies and influences the setting of accounting standards, financial reporting and sustainability reporting internationally.

You can read more about each of these executive bodies by following the links above.

The board of the Association appoints the members of the executive five bodies and grants budgets for their activities, while the Association's secretariat administers and manages issues of a general nature.

Self-regulation means that the corporate sector and other stakeholders in the market design and decide themselves on the rules in the securities market and what is generally accepted practice. The aim is to create and maintain confidence among both domestic and foreign market actors, as well as to ensure a robust and efficient securities market with good conditions for listed companies, investors and other stakeholders.

The benefits of this model have led the Swedish parliament and the Financial Supervisory Authority to delegate certain public authority powers and standard setting to self-regulation.

The principals/members of the Association are the Swedish Association of Listed Companies (Aktiemarknadsbolagens Förening), the Institute for the Accountancy Profession in Sweden (FAR), the Association of Mutual Funds (Fondbolagens förening), the Institutional Owners Association for Regulatory Issues in the Stock Market (Institutionella ägares förening), the Swedish Insurance Federation (Svensk Försäkring), the Swedish Bankers’ Association (Svenska Bankföreningen), the Swedish Securities Markets Association (Föreningen Svensk Värdepappersmarknad), the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) and Nasdaq Stockholm.

How the Association/self-regulation is financed

The non-profit activities of the Association, its secretariat, its wholly-owned subsidiary (Självregleringen i Sverige Service AB) and its five executive bodies, (the Swedish Securities Council, the Swedish Corporate Governance Board, the Stock Market Self-Regulation Committee, the Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision and the Swedish Financial Reporting Board), provide service to the Association’s principals/members and to the business community regarding generally accepted practice in the Swedish stock and securities market.

The activities are financed by various fees, most of which come from the companies listed on the Swedish stock exchange, (Nasdaq Stockholm's Main Market). Fees paid by the Association's principals/members account for a small part, as do payments for services and rulings delivered for by the Swedish Securities Council. Companies listed on the Nordic Growth Market NGM (Main Regulated Equity) pay a fee for accounting supervision conducted by the Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision.

You can read more about the fees here (in Swedish)