ABSTRACT

This chapter seeks to describe what financial reporting issues have appeared among the four largest banks in Sweden over a period of 15 years. According to an EU decision in 2002, all listed companies in the EU, including Sweden, were to start using the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) developed by the International Accounting Standards Board. However, accounting treatments of loans, loan losses, and provisions have also changed more gradually, greatly influenced by international accounting standard-setting and the work of the Basel committee. Analyzing the introduction of fair values in accounting for financial instruments in relation to strategy and management control issues, there appears to be a fundamental conflict between all Swedish banks' core strategy and the accounting model departing from the balance sheet with origins from the US. The banking sector in Sweden has a long history of mergers and acquisitions, a history that has also given rise to substantial amounts of goodwill.