Business News
Sweden's HQ Bank faces liquidation over "deficiencies"
Aug 30, 2010, 8:19 GMT
Stockholm - Swedish private investment bank HQ Bank faced involuntary liquidation Monday after its licence was revoked and efforts to find a new owner failed.
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) asked a court to approve a liquidator to handle the involuntary liquidation of HQ Bank that has some 20,000 portfolio accounts and manages assets worth some 60 billion kronor (8.1 billion dollars).
The financial watchdog on Saturday said it would revoke the bank's licence, citing that HQ Bank 'demonstrated serious deficiencies in its trading operations. The bank has taken risks that were so large as to compromise its survival.'
In its decision, the financial watchdog said HQ Bank had 'overvalued its trading portfolio for a long time.'
Since December 2008 the bank was 'undercapitalised... thereby in violation of both Swedish accounting and capital requirement regulations,' the FI said.
Financial stability would not be affected by the decision, according to the financial watchdog.
HQ Bank on Monday said efforts to find a new owner over the weekend had proved 'impossible to implement.'
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