If there is anything that can make a minister's impartiality be questioned, they should not be involved in deciding on the matter – which is stated in the rules of the Administrative Act.
At government meetings last year, however, three ministers who own shares in Handelsbanken and Nordea were involved and made decisions on the so-called bank tax – but none of them reported a conflict of interest according to SVT.
And despite the criticism directed at several ministers' handling of their shareholdings, after an investigation by Sveriges Radio, none of the three ministers reported a conflict of interest when it was time again in June to make a decision on the bank tax.
Conflict of interest due to shareholdings has only been reported on two occasions – by the same minister – despite the fact that nine ministers have owned shares during the current term of office.
The two occasions concern Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner (KD) who owned shares in a wind power company – which he reported when the government was to make a decision on wind power. At another decision on wind power, however, his report of conflict of interest was missing.
