Sweden – ENT on Foreign Direct Investment

Sweden – ENT on Foreign Direct Investment

On 11 September 2023, SWE ENT blogged on new law on investment controls which follows SWE MoJ May 2023 bill on review of foreign direct investment.

Main Concerns

  • Threshold values missing so even very small purchases are covered; combined with fact that changes in ownership stakes in certain intervals also subject to notification, means large number of completely unproblematic acquisitions must be notified.
  • Includes reporting obligation for all investments falling within relevant business areas.
  • That, regardless of investor's nationality so even Swedes or investors from other EU countries will have to notify acquisitions.
  • Which activities covered in many parts unclear, potentially covers large economy parts.
  • Apart from products with military connection, critical minerals, sensitive technologies, etc. with direct link to national security seen, e.g. category socially important activity not further defined; it shall be determined later in official regulations.
  • This, coupled with tangible consequences in failure to report, risks many companies consider forced to report for safety's sake or refrain from investing if believed covered.

Conclusions

  • Danger that considerable part of investments made on ongoing basis in Sweden will have to be notified, relevant authorities will have to spend large resources on checking problem-free acquisitions, what will reduce possibilities of acting against real threats.
  • It will likely be difficult to stop such investments if bottlenecks arise in the authorities' review processes, which can be exploited by actors with bad intentions.
  • Realize SWE is in absolute final phase of legislative process but it should not be too late to make adjustments that can not only make investment review more effective.
  • But also minimize negative consequences for companies' competitiveness and for Sweden as an investment destination.