To Örebro University

This chapter reviews 40 recent articles from top-ranked accounting journals, addressing the current state of knowledge about quality in sustainability assurance. The articles centre around four themes: understanding the process and quality of sustainability assurance; drivers of assurance quality; the relationship between assurance and the quality of sustainability reports; and the impact of assurance on investor reactions to the reported information. The reviewed literature reflects that the traditional focus of accounting firms may expand to cover not only substantive procedures and error restatements but also judgements on completeness under broadened reporting entity boundaries. We identify the role of specialists and the potential needs for specialisation in establishing sustainability report quality and assurance, especially in the context of detecting ‘greenwashing’. Importantly, we find indications that sustainability assurance does affect investor reactions, but does not necessarily control report quality in the same way as financial assurance. The review acknowledges the view that bringing sustainability assurance under the purview of accounting firms may result in positive spill-over effects on financial audit activities, but may also result in potential negative effects from increased distraction and workload, and decreased independence.

This paper employs a qualitative analytical approach to address the question of how incumbents incorporate risk into their platform strategy, and how this in turn influences their approach to platform governance. Through an analysis of legislative and policy documents on the formulation and implementation of PSD2 in Sweden and the EU, 24 semi-structured interviews with experts and organisational representatives in the Swedish banking sector, and literature from the fields of strategic innovation and financial sector governance, we conduct the grounded analytical development of a model linking risk assessment to platform governance among incumbent banks. Our model suggests an iterative three-stage process, involving translation, mobilisation, and incorporation as platform owners at banks try to balance openness and perceived platform risks.

We identify a conflation of access openness and resource openness: platform owners decide resource openness ex ante, as part of their overarching strategy around what kind of platform to have, and then once they have the platform in place make decisions about platform access on a case-by-case basis, based on their risk assessments.

Sveriges fintechsektor har skapat flera framgångsrika företag. I denna studie presenteras en första komplett kartläggning av de svenska fintechföretagen. Vidare presenteras en analys av åtgärder som skulle kunna skapa än bättre förutsättningar för innovation och entreprenörskap parallellt med låga risker.

This qualitative in-depth case study explores the influence of financial regulation on risk control within Banque de Montagne, a large listed bank in Sweden. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the European Banking Authority´s Guidelines on Internal Governance (GL 44), through Swedish Financial Regulation FFFS 2014:1, on the bank’s risk organization along the three lines of defense model of internal control. FFFS 2014:1 requires banks to reform risk control structures, processes, and roles through a mandated split between the operational risk and compliance functions of the internal risk organization. Through an analysis of 41 interviews, more than 2100 pages of internal and external documents, and over 200 hours of observations from 2015 to 2017, the research identifies the relevant changes to transparency and accountability mechanisms across the three lines of defense within the organization. The operationalization of these concepts through risk control mechanisms is an important consideration for both banks and regulators who rely on the three lines of defense model as an industry-wide adoption for effective risk control. The findings suggest that whilst intra- and inter-organizational accountability mechanisms have strengthened under the changed organizational structure through the implementation of FFFS 2014:1, challenges to effective transparency remain and may have ambiguous consequences for both organizational and regulatory aims.

This qualitative in-depth case study explores the influence of financial regulation on risk control within Banque de Montagne, a large listed bank in Sweden. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the European Banking Authority´s Guidelines on Internal Governance (GL 44), through Swedish Financial Regulation FFFS 2014:1, on the bank’s risk organization along the three lines of defense model of internal control. FFFS 2014:1 requires banks to reform risk control structures, processes, and roles through a mandated split between the operational risk and compliance functions of the internal risk organization. Through an analysis of 41 interviews, more than 2100 pages of internal and external documents, and over 200 hours of observations from 2015 to 2017, the research identifies the relevant changes to transparency and accountability mechanisms across the three lines of defense within the organization. The operationalization of these concepts through risk control mechanisms is an important consideration for both banks and regulators who rely on the three lines of defense model as an industry-wide adoption for effective risk control. The findings suggest that whilst intra- and inter-organizational accountability mechanisms have strengthened under the changed organizational structure through the implementation of FFFS 2014:1, challenges to effective transparency remain and may have ambiguous consequences for both organizational and regulatory aims.

This qualitative in-depth case study explores the influence of financial regulation on risk control within Banque de Montagne, a large listed bank in Sweden. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the European Banking Authority´s Guidelines on Internal Governance (GL 44), through Swedish Financial Regulation FFFS 2014:1, on the bank’s risk organization along the three lines of defense model of internal control. FFFS 2014:1 requires banks to reform risk control structures, processes, and roles through a mandated split between the operational risk and compliance functions of the internal risk organization. Through an analysis of 41 interviews, more than 2100 pages of internal and external documents, and over 200 hours of observations from 2015 to 2017, the research identifies the relevant changes to transparency and accountability mechanisms across the three lines of defense within the organization. The operationalization of these concepts through risk control mechanisms is an important consideration for both banks and regulators who rely on the three lines of defense model as an industry-wide adoption for effective risk control. The findings suggest that whilst intra- and inter-organizational accountability mechanisms have strengthened under the changed organizational structure through the implementation of FFFS 2014:1, challenges to effective transparency remain and may have ambiguous consequences for both organizational and regulatory aims.

In light of the broader prudential concerns that continue to shape the international financial landscape, this article illustrates two key aspects of the link between financial regulation and accounting for risk in banks. First, it emphasizes the function of capital and liquidity in banks, particularly in context of the different risks and vulnerabilities that banks face. Second, it identifies some important evolutions in accounting standards and prudential oversight of financial institutions.