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FINANCE

Borg has ‘worst’ personal finances among Swedish ministers: report

Swedish finance minister Anders Borg, known for lecturing Swedes about the dangers of borrowing too much money, has a mortgage worth more than the value of his home, according to new investigation.

Borg has 'worst' personal finances among Swedish ministers: report

In an opinion article published in January, Borg cautioned that, “we can’t live beyond our means”.

“We all have a responsibility to not be cavalier, but rather to make careful and responsible calculations when it comes to investments and consumption,” Borg wrote.

“Responsibility and prudence ought to be our guiding lights for the years ahead.”

But a few months later, Borg took out an addition 500,000 kronor ($76,000) loan on his 368 square-metre home in Katrineholm in central Sweden.

The new loan brought the finance minister’s overall mortgage up to 3.65 million kronor on a home with an assessed value of only 3.2 million kronor, according to a report in the Aftonbladet newspaper.

Moreover, the newspaper concluded that Borg had the worst personal finances of all of Sweden’s government ministers, saddled with mortgage debt totaling more than 110 percent of his home’s value.

But Borg is far from the only Swedish minister with a sizeable amount of housing debt.

Social insurance minister Ulf Kristersson, as well as children and the elderly minister Maria Larsson, also have mortgages worth more than the value of their homes.

Overall, a total of seven ministers have mortgages that exceed Sweden’s 85 percent mortgage ceiling, Aftonbladet found.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Carl Bildt was found to be the wealthiest Swedish minister, with assets totaling 23.8 million kronor, including a 170 square-metre flat in Stockholm’s posh Östermalm district valued at 10 million kronor.

Agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson is Sweden’s next wealthiest minister, with newly appointed environment minister Lena Ek coming in third with assets totaling 11 million kronor.

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FINANCE

German watchdog steps up monitoring of popular N26 online bank

Germany's financial watchdog on Wednesday ordered online bank N26 to step up "internal controls and safeguards" to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and said it was appointing a special representative to monitor progress.

German watchdog steps up monitoring of popular N26 online bank
An N26 card. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Bafin’s announcement marks an escalation of previous warnings to the popular Berlin start-up, which has come under fire in the past for not properly verifying the identities of new customers.

“Bafin ordered N26 Bank GmbH to rectify deficiencies both in IT monitoring and in customer due diligence,” the regulator said in a statement.

N26 “is required to ensure that it has the adequate personnel, technical and organisational resources to comply with its obligations under anti-money laundering law,” it said.

A “special commissioner” would oversee the company’s efforts, Bafin added. Founded in 2013 and known for its transparent debit cards, digital bank N26 is one of Germany’s most high-profile financial technology or “fintech” firms and now has seven million customers in 25 countries.

Its rapid growth has rested in part on fast-track identity procedures for new customers.

READ ALSO: What is the digital German bank N26 that’s about to hit a million users?

In 2019, German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche said it had managed to open accounts using forged IDs.

N26 on Wednesday pledged to “work closely” with Bafin and the special representative.

It said it had already significantly increased measures to prevent money laundering in recent years, “but we recognise that more must be done in this area”.

The coronavirus crisis had contributed to a spike in fraudulent online transactions worldwide, N26 added, “increasing the demands placed on banks in the fight against crime”.

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