Kingdom of Sweden - Sovereign of the year

Press release 17 January 2014

The Swedish National Debt Office has been awarded Sovereign of the year 2013. The international award is given for outstanding achievements in the financial sector by Risk Magazine journal.

– We are pleased to receive a confirmation that the Debt Office has a strong standing in an international perspective. Our challenge has been to minimize the long-term costs for the management of the public debt without taking excessive risks despite the huge volume and volatile markets, says Maria Norström, Head of Funding.

First and foremost, the Debt Office was awarded the prize for the extensive funding in foreign currency bonds to boost the Riksbank's foreign exchange reserve in dollar.

The Debt Office received a request on 12 December 2012 from the Riksbank for loans in foreign currency in order to strengthen the foreign exchange reserve by the equivalent of SEK 100 billion. The request was approved in mid-January.

The bulk of the sum was raised in a few days in January.

– To be able to do that, you've got to be very well organised in terms of your investor relationships and your dealer relationships. I think that was very impressive," says Philip Brown, managing director in the debt capital markets business at Citi, one of the Debt Office's counterparts in the banking sector.

Risk Magazine also praises the Debt Office's proactive work with clearing of OTC instruments. As early as 2012, the Debt Office began to use central counterparty clearing at Nasdaq OMX for interest rate swaps in SEK.

Risk Magazine also draws attention to the Debt Office's efforts to be world-class in communication and investor relations. Since September 2012, an extensive database of detailed and specific information relating to government debt has been available online for investors and other users.

Risk Management Awards – Sovereign of the year

Risk Magazine highlights debt managers who have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements in comparison to other sovereign borrowers. The prize is given once a year. Risk Magazine is a subsidiary to Incisive Media group, which is one the world's leading information providers within the business-to-business segment.

For more information:
Unni Jerndal, Head of Communications, +46 8 613 45 96

<h2 class="background">Motivering till årets utmärkelse</h2> <ul> <li>För framgångsrik upplåning till Riksbankens valutareserv</li> <li>För samarbete med Nasdaq Omx om central motpartsclearing</li> <li>För banbrytande arbete med Riksgäldens databas</li> </ul>