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The world’s oldest central bank, Sweden’s Riksbank, was the first to issue paper banknotes in the 1660s. Now it is launching a project to examine what a central bank-backed digital currency would look like and what challenges it would pose. It hopes to take a decision on whether to start issuing what it calls an “e-krona” within two years.

Sweden has seen a dramatic drop in the use of cash – down 40% since 2009.

Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor at the Riksbank: “This is as revolutionary as the paper note 300 years ago. What does it mean for monetary policy and financial stability? How do we design this: a rechargeable card, an app or another way?” Cecilia Skingsley gave a speech today at a Fin-Tech conference in Stockholm. She pointed out that the “e-krona” will not replace cash and other means of payment but would function as a complement.

Other central banks such the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada have started looking at the potential benefits and challenges of digital currencies such as bitcoin.

Source: Read the Finacial Times story
Images: Sveriges Riksbank

What is Hyperloop?

Hyperloop is a technology to move people or things anywhere in the world quickly, safely, efficiently, on-demand and with minimal impact to the environment. The technology was reintroduced and updated by Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX). The system uses electric propulsion to accelerate a passenger or cargo vehicle through a tube in a low pressure environment. The autonomous vehicle levitates slightly above the track and glides at faster-than-airline speeds over long distances. Direct emissions, noise, delay, weather concerns and pilot error are eliminated. This could be a giant step in transportation.

Helsinki to Stockholm in less than 30 minutes

Hyperloop is no longer science fiction as Hyperloop is now aiming to demonstrate a full-scale, high-speed test of its track, vehicle and controlled-environment tube in late 2016 or early 2017. This bold vision may become reality thanks to a proposed Hyperloop link between the two capital cities which is estimated to bring annual savings of 321 million euros from the reduced travel time. The Hyperloop will also connect the city centers with the airports, a trip of 10 minutes. Todays travel options between the two capitals are about 3-4 hours by air, including airport tranfers and time spent at airport or an overnight cruise-ferry crossing.

These are the results of the world’s first pre-feasibility study of a full-scale Hyperloop system produced by US-based technology specialist Hyperloop One, consultants KPMG and Finnish company FS Links. FS Links was founded a year ago to facilitate the building of a fixed link between the two Nordic countries. An entire region of 5 million people would become a metro network, lifting property values and productivity along the route.

According to FS Links, Hyperloop One is currently looking for a ‘proof of operations’ facility, with research centre and rails, and they have already decided it will be in Europe. Many places are competing for it, but Finland has the lead. FS Links have made the first actual business case and are also the first company Hyperloop has invested in.”

Key to these plans is the Finnish city of Salo. The city, located 115 kilometres from Helsinki, has signed a ‘letter of intent’ with Hyperloop One to become the first test station along the proposed Helsinki-Stockholm route. Salo officials believe the super-fast connection would be a great opportunity for growth and new jobs in the high-tech city.

A Nordic metropol

The next steps in FS Links and Salo’s plans are to find partners to fund the public-private initiative (the total cost is estimated to be 19 billion euros) and then secure a final agreement with Hyperloop One.

There are still many things that need to be solved. But the pre-feasibility study shows the connection between Stockholm and Helsinki is not impossible. The challenges appear to be funding and execution.

While the proposed Helsinki-Stockholm route could take 12-15 years to build, a fast way to transport goods would open up completely new business opportunities, while people could quickly and easily commute from one country to another.

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PwC just published a report Cities of Opportunities 7. The report measures 30 cities across 10 indicator groups and 67 variables. The report ranks Stockholm as the seventh best city in the world and the only Nordic city in the report.

The world’s best City of Opportunity according to PwC is London which scores high in economic clout, intellectual capital and international accessibility. However the report was compiled before the Brexit referendum. Experts at PwC also warned there were risks Brexit could impact London, possibly hitting recruitment, trade and regulation, although they said it was too early to gauge the effect. London’s closest rival was Singapore, followed by Toronto, Paris, Amsterdam and New York.

Stockholm is the champion of sustainability and environment as well as infrastructure. Among the cities in the report Stockholm also has the smallest income inequality. Though Stockholm generally evaluates well, the city is pulled down in the ranking because of the housing shortage and its relatively expensive living costs.

Do you want to set up your business in one of the most innovative regions of the world? Welcome to Stockholm, where start-ups flourish. Feel free to contact Scandicorp who will happily provide you with any help and information.

Read the full PwC report

Scandicorp, with offices in both Stockholm and Oslo, is now a member of the Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm.

Both Scandicorp and the Chamber of Commerce share a common purpose: to help entrepreneurs and companies in either country to establish a presence in the other country.

Scandicorp is convinced that many Norwegian companies would benefit greatly from neighboring Sweden and vice versa. If you are a Swedish or Norwegian entrepreneur interested in expanding your horizons good ways to start your journey may be to contact Scandicorp or the Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Scandicorp will happily help you with establishing a presence and provide you with accounting and company management services.

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Catella is a leading specialist in property investments, fund management and banking, with operations in 12 countries across Europe. Catella recently published a Nordic Market Tracker.

Investment Opportunities

The Northern European property market is increasingly featuring in the pan-European real estate portfolios of institutional investors. Compared with other European countries, the economic transparency and prosperity of the markets in the Nordic countries makes them a popular option. Also, the availability of capital opens up new investment opportunities. Catella foresees these opportunities, especially for investments in the office and retail markets.

In general, some 90% of invested capital in the Nordic countries is based on domestic markets (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland), with a high share of Swedish capital – but this will change. Demand from German, French and UK investors rose in the past three quarters, not least through pressure from capital markets to look for a stable income stream.

“Many markets offer clear potential for portfolio diversification. Copenhagen and Helsinki display a correlation that is slightly negative, as does Berlin. Stockholm’s correlation is below the level identified, for example, for the German cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf, and also from the perspective of Lisbon, Warsaw and London investors. Against this backdrop, combining a Nordic segment with a German, Spanish or Belgium office property segment could be a successful strategy for anyone interested in risk diversification,” explained Dr. Thomas Beyerle, Head of Group Research at Catella, talking about the investment strategy from an international perspective.

Catellas report concludes

Catellas report concludes: “The Nordic countries are not as homogeneous as international stereotypes often suggest. There are marked differences to be aware of when investing. Not only do investors need to know how Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland differ when it comes to their social, economic and political arenas, but there’s something else international observers should keep an eye on, as well: intra-Nordic investment patterns. This report thus concludes that the northern European countries represent enormous potential when it comes to diversifying multinational portfolios. Furthermore, they also demonstrate structural stability for long-term investors with multi-country and multi-asset funds/strategy.”

Read full report

This slogan and brand launched by Stockholm Business Region in 2005 is understandably controversial. The Danes and Norwegians call it “Typical Swedish megalomania”. Naturally, there is no such thing as a capital of Scandinavia just as there is no capital of Europe.

The main arguments for Stockholm being the “Capital of Scandinavia”, according to Stockholm Business Region are
• Central – Stockholm is centrally located and is the largest city in Scandinavia
• Business – Stockholm is the economic center of Scandinavia
• Culture – Stockholm sets the tone of arts and culture in Scandinavia

The Nordic market only, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland, makes up the 11th largest economy of the world, with a remarkably high level of purchasing power. Looking at a map of the region one can see that Sweden is an ideal location, serving as a gateway to three markets: The Nordic countries (25 million consumers), the Baltic Sea region (100 million consumers) and the European Union (more than 500 million consumers).

A recent report by Stockholm Business region based on an analysis of Forbes Global 2000 companies presence in the Nordic region concludes that among the Forbes Global 2000 companies that have established operations in the Nordic region with regional headquarters, about 64 percent have chosen to locate their regional headquarters in Sweden, 20 percent in Denmark and 8 and 9 percent in Norway and Finland respectively.

Despite the refugee crisis, negative interest rates and some regional housing shortage the Swedish economy is booming this year. Sweden continues to rank as one of the most competitive, productive and globalized countries in the world.

Have you considered setting up a Nordic presence for your business? Would “The Capital of Scandinavia” be your location of choice? Perhaps Oslo or Helsinki would be alternatives to consider as well? The Scandicorp group has a presence and offices in all three cities. Feel free to contact us for further information at www.scandicorp.com.

Time to invest in Sweden? Yesterday, Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson raised the economic growth forecast for 2016 and predicted narrowing deficits in the coming years as an economic boom helps the nation cope with a record influx of asylum seekers.

Gross domestic product will expand 3.8 percent in 2016 and 2.2 percent in 2017, compared with December forecasts of 3.1 percent and 2.6 percent respectively, the Stockholm-based Finance Ministry said in a statement. It now predicts budget deficits of 0.4 percent of GDP in 2016 and 0.7 percent in 2017, compared with earlier forecasts of 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent.

The growth forecast is one percent higher than the forecast presented in connection with the 2016 budget last fall. Growth is now higher than in the United States, Germany and Great Britain. Unemployment is at its lowest level in seven years and Sweden gains market shares on international export markets.

The finance minister expressed worries that despite the good outlook there are some risks associated with the present state of the economy in the close trading partners Finland and Norway.

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Stockholm was ranked third best followed by Helsinki as fourth best among 35 European cities for startups in a recent survey. The index released was created by UK-based innovation charity Nesta as part of the European Digital Forum. It rates cities by how well they create a supportive environment for digital companies, from local business regulations to available financing to the skill level of the workforce. London and Amsterdam scored first and second while Copenhagen ranked fifth followed by Paris, Berlin and Dublin.

As expected, Stockholm features quite highly on the list, ranking second for scale-ups and third for startups. The Swedish capital has produced several of Europe’s biggest digital companies such as Spotify, King (creators of Candy Crush) and Mojang (creators of Minecraft). Moreover, it is the European city leader on many measures of digital infrastructure: it has the highest penetration of residential broadband, the highest percentage of fibre broadband connection in Europe and reports a greater proportion of ICT-specialist users in the total economy than any other country in the OECD. The population also have strong English language skills. The government, too, is highly supportive of entrepreneurship: it is a relatively easy place in which to do business, and public funding may be available via VINNOVA, Sweden’s innovation agency. The city is also home to top ranking universities, such as the Karolinska Institute, as well as telecoms giant Ericsson, which promotes strong knowledge spillovers.

Helsinki scores highly on nearly every dimension in the Index except cost of living, catapulting it to fourth position overall. Helsinki was also a ‘front runner’ in Nesta’s own CITIE report, due to its benign innovation policy environment. It is a well-connected city (Finland itself topped the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Network Readiness Index) which also scores highly for entrepreneurial culture, skills and early-stage support. The presence of electronics giant Nokia exerted significant influence for many years and helped in establishing a strong ICT and software talent pool in the region – this is evident in the skills score. Industry-defining technologies such as SSH, Linux and MySQL have been developed in Helsinki. Aalto University and the state-run VTT – two large, multidisciplinary research institutions – both play important roles in connecting this deep technical base with design and business skills. Today, Helsinki region is a home for over 500 tech startups and numerous incubators and accelerator programs.

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Stockholm, October 1, 2015 — Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced the launch of First North 25, a new index for the 25 largest and most traded shares on Nasdaq First North and Nasdaq First North Premier. The First North 25 index will be launched and disseminated on October 15, 2015, and is an important part of Nasdaq’s continuous efforts to provide the leading platform for growth companies.

“Supporting small and medium sized enterprises is a part of our Nasdaq DNA”, said Adam Kostyál, Senior Vice President and European Head of Listings. “By launching First North 25, we want to highlight the growing investment opportunities on Nasdaq First North to a broader group of institutional investors, and provide further visibility for companies included in the index.”

Companies included in First North 25 are selected through a two-step process. Firstly, the 30 largest companies measured by market capitalization are selected. The 25 most traded shares within this pool, measured by aggregated trading turnover over a six month period, are selected for the index. The First North 25 portfolio will be reviewed twice a year with new portfolios being effective the first trading day in January and July.

With the First North 25 launch, Nasdaq also introduces four local country indexes for the Nordic markets; First North Sweden, First North Finland, First North Denmark and First North Iceland. The four indices will include shares traded on the respective markets, and are designed to add further visibility for Nasdaq First North in the Nordics.

“Since its launch in 2005, Nasdaq First North has grown significantly and is now home to more than 200 growth companies”, said Adam Kostyál. “Studies show that job creation in small and medium sized companies increase greatly after listing. Providing these companies with visibility and an attractive platform for raising capital is essential for the future growth of our economies.”

First North Sweden, First North Finland, First North Denmark and First North Iceland will be launched and start disseminating on October 15, 2015. For a detailed description of the selection criteria is found here: Read full description