The Riksbank’s oversight of the financial infrastructure

Date 30/05/2012

The Riksbank oversees the financial infrastructure in Sweden as part of its work with what is commonly known as financial stability. Financial stability quite simply involves acting in various ways to promote a safe and efficient financial system. Private individuals, organisations and authorities, for example, should be able to pay and receive payments safely and efficiently. And when shares, debt securities and other financial instruments are traded on the financial markets, payment and delivery must take place safely and efficiently so that the securities and the payments can change hands. This is made possible by what is known as the financial infrastructure; that is the systems which handle payments and transactions involving financial instruments.

 

An effective financial infrastructure – alongside effective banks, credit markets and financial markets – is crucial to the stability of the financial system. If the financial infrastructure fails to operate, activity in the financial system would more or less grind to a halt: payments and securities transactions could not take place. Hence the financial infrastructure is a prerequisite for an effective economy.

 

With its report "The Riksbank's oversight of the financial infrastructure", the Riksbank wishes to provide information on why the Riksbank oversees the financial infrastructure, and how. The report also describes some of the challenges the Riksbank is currently facing in its oversight and crisis management.