The Riksbank is changing the overview of its purchases and holdings of securities

News The Riksbank is working to increase transparency in the securities market and is also seeking as much transparency as possible in the reporting of the Riksbank's purchases of securities. The Riksbank therefore takes a very positive view of the fact that, as of 1 July, the sector will increase its reporting of bond transactions by means of self-regulation. The Riksbank has also reviewed the presentation of its bond purchases in an effort to increase transparency. One result is that the overview of the Riksbank's purchases and holdings will be improved. Unfortunately, the review also means that the Riksbank, for legal reasons, needs to stop publishing the list of purchases of corporate bonds. The Riksbank will, however, examine the legal possibilities to re-publish more detailed information about its corporate bond purchases.

The Riksbank is working to increase transparency in the corporate bond market and is also seeking as much transparency as possible in its own presentation. When the sector starts to report bond transactions on 1 July in accordance with the Swedish Securities Markets Association’s recommendation, information on these transactions will be collected at one single provider and will be available to the public free of charge, which increases market transparency in a much-needed way.

The Riksbank is subject to strict conditions of counterparty confidentiality, which mean that the authority cannot act in a way that risks revealing who is the counterparty in the Riksbank's individual financial transactions. As the market improves its reporting by means of self-regulation and in an effort to increase its own transparency, the Riksbank has had reason to review its own presentation. The Riksbank has assessed that there is a certain risk that someone will be able to work out who has been the Riksbank's counterparty using both market information and the monthly data shown in the list of all the Riksbank's purchases of corporate bonds. The undesired consequence therefore is that the Riksbank, for legal reasons and contrary to its desire to improve transparency, has deemed it necessary to stop publishing the list. The publication of the list therefore ends on 1 July. However, the Riksbank will continue to publish on a monthly basis the list of companies with bonds that meet the Riksbank's criteria. At the same time, the Riksbank is examining the possibility of republishing more detailed information about the purchase of corporate bonds in a way that does not risk violating the Riksbank's requirement for counterparty confidentiality.

In order to make it easier for external parties to continually evaluate the Riksbank's corporate bond purchases, the Riksbank is starting to publish the holdings of corporate bonds on a monthly basis, broken down by credit rating, sector and remaining maturity.

Improved overview of the Riksbank’s purchases and holdings of securities

At the same time, the Riksbank has improved the overview of all the Riksbank's purchases and holdings of securities. This means that from 2 July at 14.00, more detailed statements will be published on the holdings of securities than before. The Riksbank's purchases of securities will be reported as follows:

  • The holdings of government bonds, treasury bills, covered bonds and bonds issued by Kommuninvest i Sverige AB will be published on a monthly basis per security.
  • The holdings of individual municipal bonds and commercial paper will be published monthly per credit rating class.
  • The holdings of corporate bonds will be published monthly by credit rating, industry and remaining maturity.

In order to further improve the overview of the Riksbank's security purchases during the coronavirus pandemic, a new web-page is also being published. It contains compiled information on, among other things, the Riksbank's total purchases and holdings of securities, broken down by different types of securities, and the Riksbank's holdings of different securities in relation to outstanding stock on the market.

The reporting of the Riksbank's holdings of securities will be updated on the first working day of the month and refers to the holdings at the end of the last month.

Contact: Press Office, tel. +46 8-7870200
Updated 01/07/2021