The Riksbank's work on preparedness

The Riksbank has two areas of responsibility within civil preparedness:

• The Riksbank's operations shall function in crises and in states of heightened alert.
• Payments in society shall function in crises and in states of heightened alert

Sweden's total defence

Total defence consists of military defence and civil defence and is the activity needed to prepare Sweden for war. If the government decides on a state of heightened alert, total defence is all the activities that must then be carried out. The overall objectives of total defence are to act as a deterrent to war and to strengthen the ability of society as a whole to defend Sweden against an armed attack and to safeguard our security, freedom, independence and freedom to act.

The civilian part of the total defence consists of authorities, municipalities, regions, individual companies, voluntary defence organisations and private individuals. The task of civil defence is to ensure a functioning society in the event of war and the threat of war and to support the Swedish Armed Forces.

Ability to maintain the Riksbank's operations

Strengthened preparedness is one of the Riksbank’s five strategic priorities. Within the Riksbank, the concept encompasses both crisis preparedness and civil defence, i.e. planning and management of peacetime crisis situations and a state of heightened alert. Our preparedness ensures that the Riksbank's critically important activities can be carried out during all types of social disruptions, from peacetime to war.

Collaboration and preparedness in financial services

On 1 October 2022, a structural reform of civil defence and crisis preparedness came into force on the initiative of the government, which involved the establishment of ten preparedness sectors. The sectors consist of a number of preparedness authorities and are headed by an authority with sectoral responsibility (lead authority). The division is based on the different societal functions that are important to maintain during peacetime crisis situations and in states of heightened alert.

The financial services preparedness sector includes Finansinspektionen and the Swedish National Debt Office. The sector's functions consist of payment mediation, financial stability, financing and savings, and insurance. Finansinspektionen, as the lead authority, heads up the sector's work on coordinating measures prior to and during peacetime crisis situations and in states of heightened alert. As an authority of the Riksdag, the Riksbank cannot formally be part of the sector but participates in the work on a voluntary basis and works closely with the two government authorities.

To strengthen both its own resilience and that of the financial sector, the Riksbank also participates in various types of collaborative exercises.

The public shall be able to make payments in peacetime crisis situations and times of heightened alert

Under the Sveriges Riksbank Act, the Riksbank has a responsibility to ensure that the public is able to make payments both in crisis situations that occur during peacetime and in states of heightened alert.

The Riksbank Act gives the Riksbank responsibilities, tasks and mandates that shall contribute to a gradual strengthening of the overall capacity to maintain the general public’s ability to make payments during peace-time crisis situations and in states of heightened alert. In practice, the responsibility means that the Riksbank has a coordinating, regulating and supervisory role.