SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Robert Karlsson, Helena Rönqvist, Caroline Landerfors and Vilma Slättegård, Magnusson Law
10.11 Virtual Currencies Virtual currencies are digital representations of a value that are accepted as a means of payment that can be transferred, stored and traded electronically, although they are not issued or guaranteed by a central bank. Virtual currencies are not necessarily linked to an established currency and do not have the legal status Although non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are based on blockchain technology similar to cryptocurrencies, NFTs do not fall within the scope of MiCA. There is currently no explicit regulation on NFTs in Sweden. 10.13 Stablecoins Stablecoins are not specifically regulated under national Swedish law. Stablecoins that fall within the definition of an asset-referenced token or an e-money token are subject to MiCA. This also includes algorith - mic stablecoins that aim to maintain a stable value in relation to an official currency or one or more assets through mechanisms that adjust the supply of the stablecoin in response to changes in demand. Such stablecoins are subject to the requirements set out in Titles II and IV of MICA, which include, inter alia, detailed authorisation requirements, organisational and reporting requirements, as well as reserve assets and own funds requirements. of a currency. 10.12 NFTs The primary regulation that allows access to customer data for third-party financial service providers is the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2), which has been implemented into Swedish law through the PSA. There is currently ongoing work in the EU on a new FiDA, which aims to enhance data sharing between financial service providers. Additionally, a financial service provider can access data with the consent of a data subject, in accordance with the GDPR. 11. Open Banking 11.1 Regulation of Open Banking Regulated Methods
Unregulated Methods Examples of unregulated methods used for access - ing personal data include screen scraping and reverse engineering. Some providers have developed supple - mentary methods for accessing personal data, known as APIs. However, the SFSA have stated that APIs are currently not sufficiently widespread or comprehen - sive to be included under the term “open banking”. 11.2 Concerns Raised by Open Banking The concerns raised about open banking have particu - larly centred on consumer and privacy protection. In response to these issues, the EU published a proposal for a FiDA, known as the open finance framework, on 28 June 2023. The primary purpose of the proposed regulation is to establish clear and well-defined rights and obligations related to the management of cus - tomer data sharing within the financial sector. The open finance framework outlines rules for access - ing, sharing and utilising certain categories of cus - tomer data in financial services. The overarching goal of the proposal is to enhance and ensure consumer and privacy protection in the evolving landscape of open banking. If the proposed regulation success - fully comes into effect, it will be legally applicable in Sweden. The average Swedish consumer is in many ways reli - ant on digital tools to carry out day-to-day tasks such as banking through, for instance, BankID. In some cases, BankID is the only way to electronically identify oneself when using certain services. As consumers become more and more reliant on digital experienc - es, fraudsters are coming up with new and innovative ways of exploiting this vulnerability. Market participants such as banks, the Swedish cen - tral bank, the SFSA, etc, are making efforts to ensure that consumers are aware of the common frauds. For instance, Swedish banks have started an initiative called Svårlurad! (the direct translation of which is “dif - ficult to deceive!”). This initiative includes information about frauds and scams, including common scenarios 12. Fraud 12.1 Elements of Fraud
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