Challenges and Compliance in Sweden’s New FDI Law - The Impact on Foreign Investors and Swedish Sellers

Sammanfattning

The enactment of the new Swedish foreign direct investment law, "Lag (2023:560) om granskning av utländska direktinvesteringar", is a major step taken by the Swedish government in order to safeguard its strategic interests against foreign investors. This thesis will evaluate the legal challenges and compliance issues that foreign investors and Swedish sellers face under the new law. The research questions are: What are the legal challenges and compliance issues arising from Sweden's new FDI law for foreign investors? What are the legal challenges and compliance issues arising from Sweden’s new FDI law for Swedish sellers? To answer these questions this thesis will use a legal dogmatic analysis. This method will be used to examine the intricate legal framework introduced by the law and put it in the overall context of the European Union (EU) legislation. The study discusses whether the foreign direct investment law of Sweden complies with the EU standards. Further, this paper will cover the legal ramifications of the newly introduced Swedish foreign direct investment law affecting sellers of the assets traded under scrutiny. Several legal challenges and compliance issues for both foreign investors and Swedish sellers are shown in the study. This includes notification requirements, procedural difficulties and legal uncertainties. While the new law aims to protect national security it also introduces legal challenges and compliance issues that can cause problems for both the foreign investors and the Swedish sellers. This thesis contributes to giving clarity and understanding of Sweden’s new law on foreign direct investments as well as giving policy recommendations for effective enforcement of the new law.