Responsibility of the Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision

 The Council for Swedish Financial Reporting Supervision is responsible for reviewing periodic financial information that all listed companies are obliged to provide pursuant to Chapter 16, Sections 4 and 5 of the Securities Market Act (2007:528). The review of annual reports including sustainability reports and semi-annual reports is conducted pursuant to the provisions of the IAS Ordinance (EC No 1606/2002), the Annual Accounts Act (1995:1554), the Taxonomy Regulation (EU2020/852) and ESMA Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures.

The review is carried out by delegation from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (“SFSA”), which has ultimate responsibility for the supervision and has the authority to intervene against infringements.

The Council works to ensure that listed companies’ financial reporting is of high quality and is highly comparable within Sweden and internationally. The work focuses on protecting investors, promoting confidence in the market and avoiding regulatory arbitrage in order to maintain a well-functioning and efficient Swedish securities market.

Provisions regulating the Council’s supervision are specified in Chapter 16 of the SFSA's regulations regarding supervision of issuers’ periodic financial information (FFFS 2018:18).

The Council follows European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) guidelines for supervision of financial information (ESMA32-50-218). The Council also adheres to other Esma guidelines and recommendations that pertain to the Board’s activities. The Council actively collaborates in financial supervision on a European level through Financial Reporting Working Group (FRWG) (formerly known as European Enforcers Coordination Sessions, EECS) and Sustainability Reporting Working Group (formerly known as Narrative Reporting Working Group, NRWG).

Since 2022 the listed companies shall prepare their annual financial reports in a European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), which enables uniform reporting. This reporting is included in the Council’s supervision.

The Council is currently reviewing the listed companies’ sustainability reporting according to the Annual Accounts Act and the Taxonomy Regulation (EU2020/852). With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD directive) and the associated European standards, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), significantly higher demands will be placed on the sustainability information reporting of listed companies. The new regulations for sustainability reporting will be introduced gradually, initially for listed companies with more than 500 employees from the financial year 2024. The reporting of sustainability information according to the CSRD directive will, as far as the listed companies are concerned, be included in the Council's supervision.