This report provides a detailed account of the Swedish corporate bond market. Based on original data, it offers an overview of how the market has developed in the past two decades. In particular, it documents the changes since the 2008 financial crisis, explores the increasingly important role of real estate companies in the local bond market and features a case study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market. It also offers a comparison of the Swedish market with selected peer countries, both in Europe and elsewhere, in terms of market structure and relevant regulation.
This report has been prepared by the OECD in co‑operation with Swedish scholars Dr. Jens Andreasson and Dr. Erik Lidman, and the Swedish Corporate Governance Institute. It contributes to a project on Principles for a Regulation of the Swedish Corporate Bond Markets which is financed by the Nasdaq Nordic Foundation.
The report is part of the OECD Capital Market Series, which informs policy discussions on how capital markets can serve their important role of channelling financial resources from households to productive investments in the real economy.
Detailed descriptions of the data sources, selected indicators and the methodology for data collection and analysis are provided in the Annex. The report also draws from fact-finding missions conducted in the spring of 2022, including consultations with representatives of both government institutions and high-level market participants, including the Swedish Riksbank, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen), Nasdaq Stockholm, leading legal and financial advisors, banks, issuers and trustees. The report has benefitted greatly from these consultations and the team gratefully acknowledges their important contributions.
The report was prepared by a team composed of Carl Magnus Magnusson and Alejandra Medina, led by by Serdar Çelik, Acting Head of the Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance Division within the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, Erik Lidman, Associate professor at the Universities of Stockholm and Gothenburg, and Jens Andreasson, Associate Professor at Gothenburg University. The authors are grateful for the research assistance of Keigo Ando during his internship at the OECD.