The Financial Supervisory Authority has been tasked with coordinating the financial market and preparing it for crisis and war within the framework of Sweden's ongoing work on building up civil defense in society.
As part of this work, which has also included meetings and activities with all private actors that together make up Sweden's financial sector, the authority has also visited Ukraine to learn how the banking and financial sector functions there during Russia's war of aggression.
Repairing quickly
Although Russia has repeatedly targeted civil infrastructure, Ukraine has managed to maintain power supply and internet.
They are skilled in what is called repair preparedness, that you quickly get it repaired simply. And that has made it possible to rely on these financial sources, says Daniel Barr.
He says that immediately after the outbreak of war, there were those at home who warned that Sweden would never cope in a war situation because we have too little cash. But the lesson from Ukraine is that they may have been wrong.
It turned out, except perhaps for the first few weeks, that cash usage in Ukraine has decreased while electronic payments have increased, says Daniel Barr.
Payments and insurance
With the lessons from Ukraine, the Financial Supervisory Authority is now working on war- and crisis-proofing financial services in Sweden. This includes ensuring that salaries, pensions, and benefits can be paid out, that it is possible to pay for goods and services, and that there is a functioning insurance industry.
Daniel Barr says that the biggest challenge right now is to implement the often costly infrastructure projects required to war- and crisis-proof the sector.
It is private actors who are to deliver this. They are the ones who deliver the services that are also to build up this resilience.
Barr says that it is not self-evident that all necessary measures are taken.
We do not have the powers that would be required to get them to take all the measures that might be necessary. Here, everyone must take their responsibility to strengthen our preparedness, says Daniel Barr.
1. Keep cash at home for a week. Preferably in a safe place.
2. Have an extra payment card in reserve, at another bank. Disruptions do not need to occur at all banks simultaneously.
3. Have an alternative to bank-id, in the form of a bank box or code, if bank-id goes down.
Source: Financial Supervisory Authority
