The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published its 2026 assessment of the Swedish equity market, setting out policy recommendations intended to strengthen market functioning while preserving features viewed as underpinning Sweden’s strong listing activity and investor participation. Key recommendations span six areas. For multilateral trading facility (MTF) listings, the OECD recommends extending regulated-market “flagging” requirements for major shareholding changes (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 50%, 66.66% and 90%) to MTF transactions, extending the takeover sanction regime to breaches of MTF Takeover Rules, and considering a council or working group to represent MTF issuers. On takeovers, it calls for a review of post-bid squeeze-out procedures to shorten timelines (a sample of 34 awards from 2020-2025 suggested an average 15-month redemption process) and for any review of the 30% mandatory bid threshold to be grounded in cost-benefit analysis. For foreign direct investment screening, the report recommends reviewing Sweden’s FDI Screening Act to reduce market frictions and compliance costs, noting 1,261 applications in 2024 and 3,362 applications from December 2023 to end-2025, with 97% of decisions unconditionally granted and 0.1% prohibitions. Other recommendations include aligning the nine-tenths voting threshold for directed share issues to insiders with the threshold for other directed issues, consulting stakeholders and potentially revisiting the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority’s mandate on the balance between supervision and guidance, and monitoring investment fund market concentration (the ten largest domestic funds held 31% of domestic equity assets held by funds at end-2025). The OECD also highlights areas to safeguard and monitor, including shareholder engagement amid rising passive investment, Sweden’s investor protection framework, the self-regulatory and delegated-regulation model that supports rapid rulings, and investor heterogeneity in the face of potential concentration.
OECD 2026-04-28
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recommends extending disclosure and takeover sanctions to Sweden’s MTF listings and reviewing foreign investment screening
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published its 2026 assessment of the Swedish equity market, recommending reforms to strengthen market functioning while preserving listing activity and investor participation. Key proposals include extending major shareholding “flagging” and takeover sanctions to multilateral trading facility listings, reviewing post-bid squeeze-out procedures and the 30% mandatory bid threshold, recalibrating foreign direct investment screening to reduce frictions, and aligning voting thresholds for directed share issues to insiders. The report also calls for monitoring shareholder engagement, investor protection, the self-regulatory model, and investment fund market concentration.