The definition of inside information in the EU Market abuse regulation is a well-discussed (but nevertheless difficult) topic. However, almost all case law and literature relate to what constitutes inside information with regards to equities, and not most other types of securities. The topic of this article is to analyse what constitutes inside information for a corporate bond issuer according to Article 7 in the EU Market Abuse Regulation, and a bond issuers duty to disclose said information according to Article 17. The article presents five important factors generally influencing the pricing of bonds as financial instruments: the terms of the bond, credit risk (broken down into probability of default and loss given default), events affecting the economic rights of bondholders such as mandatory redemption, mandatory exchange of securities and changes in bond terms (call risk), interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Based on these factors, a number of concrete examples of situations when inside information may generally be assumed to arise is then discussed, namely in the event of changes in credit risk, changes in credit ratings, bond buy-backs and offers of voluntary exchanges of securities, mandatory exchanges of securities, changes of bond terms, breach of the terms, changes in bond seniority, and finally changes in ownership and delisting. Hopefully, the article contributes to clarifying the application of MAR for bond issuers, both in terms of how Articles 7 and 17 should generally be applied and understood, and in terms of how the rules should be applied in a number of specific situations as a starting point. The article also shows that the requirement for a bond issuer to disclose inside information is likely more far-reaching than is sometimes assumed.

Corporate Governance and Short-Termism: An In-depth Analysis of Swedish Data The debate concerning sustainable corporate governance is fierce and of great importance to regulators, not the least in the EU. One claim that has been particularly influential in policy making is that the doctrine of shareholder primacy in corporate law and corporate governance leads to short-termism in companies, and that the purpose of the corporation and directors’ duties therefore needs to be changed. In this paper, we challenge the underlying claim by examining potential signs of financial shorttermism related to excessive dividend policies. Studying companies listed on the Swedish stock market, which has one of the largest market capitalizations within the EU and a corporate governance model heavily based on shareholder primacy, our dataset includes 786 unique firms and 7,389 firmyears during the years 2000–2019. Our empirical findings demonstrate that (1) 44 % of companies do not pay out a dividend, (2) the payout ratio of the firms depends on their life cycle, and (3) the firms with the highest dividend payout are also the firms with the highest profitability while at the same time performing well in terms of sustainability reporting and sustainability ratings. Thus we see no material indications of financial short-termism in Sweden. In fact, the four largest dividend payers (which make up 31.4 % of total dividends) are a familyowned global retail company (H&M), a telecom operator where the state is the largest owner (Telia), a bank with strong cooperative roots (Swedbank) and a bank owned to a high degree by its staff (Svenska Handelsbanken). We also contribute with a methodological approach to study short-termism.

listed companies having large shareholders who take an active and central role in the management of their companies and who collaborate with the large financial institutions, and to a large extent likewise that these shareholders take on broader societal responsibility for the business in their companies.1 This is something that is also heavily reflected in the Swedish discussion on corporate sustainability. The Swedish legislative focus in the area centres around soft law and voluntary measures by owners and companies, and this regulation is presented in this report. In so far as can be judged by the performance of the Swedish market and business in terms of performance, growth and available sustainability benchmarks, this liberal approach seems to be working exceedingly well. It is nevertheless currently under heavy pressure due to the more dirigiste approach that is being taken in the EU’s harmonisation efforts in the area. Hence, in addition to describing the national ESG-rules and regulations, a secondary focus in the report is on the overall approach to sustainability in corporate law and financial market regulation in Sweden, also featuring a critical perspective on current developments within the EU.

Vinstsyftet är en av de eviga frågorna i aktiebolagsrätten och har diskuterats utförligt i den juridiska litteraturen. I ljuset av rättsutvecklingen under senare år behandlas i artikeln avvägningen mellan vinstsyftet och en hållbar bolagsstyrning i svensk rätt och hur denna står sig 2024. Det konstateras att den svenska lagstiftaren skapat ett aktieägarcentrerat bolagsstyrningssystem och medvetet valt att lägga ansvaret för andra intressen på staten och dess myndigheter. Vidare konstateras att detta trots kritiken inte synes ha hindrat en hållbar utveckling inom näringslivet, och att en förändring av vinstsyftet på så sätt som ibland förespråkas sannolikt skulle vara av begränsad betydelse. Den övergripande slutsatsen är att det inte synes finnas anledning att låta den pågående debatten om vinstsyftet påverka svensk bolagsrätt.

Den svenska företagsobligationsmarknaden har under de senaste tio åren utvecklats kraftigt med en mångdubblering av både marknadsvärde och antal emittenter. Denna utveckling är först och främst mycket positiv, och vittnar om att fler företag, särskilt små och medelstora,lyckats erhålla finansiering genom marknaden. Samtidigt har obligationsmarknaden blivit mer komplex och många nya frågor om marknadens reglering har uppmärksammats av tillsynsmyndigheter, praktiker och i media.I boken ges en introduktion i företagsobligationsmarknadens utveckling, funktion och dess aktörer, och utifrån denna behandlas regleringen av marknaden. De regler som omfattas investerarskydd och likabehandling, prospekt- och noteringsregler, obligationsemittenters informationsgivningsskyldighet enligt EU:s marknadsmissbruksförordning, mellanmansrättsliga frågor, samt frågor om likviditet och pristransparens.Boken riktar sig till praktiskt verksamma på marknaden, men även studenter och nyanställda som närmar sig frågorna.