Riksbank’s new stability chief resigns after less than a week

Henrik Braconier took up his position as the new head of financial stability at Sveriges Riksbank on Monday, October 2. But by Thursday, he had resigned.

This surprising turn of events traces back to July, when Braconier agreed to move from the Swedish financial supervisor, Finansinspektionen (FI), where he was chief economist, to take up the Riksbank job.  

“It wasn’t an easy decision because my previous job was clearly very interesting as well. So I started to think about what I wanted to do,” Braconier tells Central Banking.

In the intervening months, he grew increasingly convinced he had taken the wrong decision. His position at FI gave him oversight of several strands of research, and, moreover, FI is the institution that wields most macro-prudential tools in Sweden. “I realised that was the thing I would really like to focus on,” Braconier says. “This was a gradual process for me.”

There were positives to working for the Riksbank. Notably, Braconier says it would have been an opportunity to develop as a manager, since the team comprises around 60 people, versus about 20 at FI.

Unfortunately, he still hadn’t reached a final decision when he started work at the central bank. A critical factor was that he realised applications for his old job were still open, though the process was set to close a few days later. He decided to reapply.

“It is horrible timing, and the Riksbank has to go out and look for someone new to take the job, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to stay on given that I knew I wanted to do something else. So it was better to step down as quickly as possible,” Braconier explains.

While the Riksbank hunts for a replacement, Olof Sandstedt, the deputy head of the department, is once again acting chief. He held the position earlier this year during the process that saw Braconier appointed.

Meanwhile, Braconier must for a second time go through the selection process that originally saw him appointed as chief economist at FI. While he is presumably a strong contender, he says he will have to sit tests and go through rounds of interviews like all the other candidates.

There is plenty of work waiting on his old desk. A consultation is open on a second round of tougher amortisation requirements, as the Swedish housing market remains buoyant. Nordea’s potential move to Finland is also keeping supervisors busy, while the government is working on a wider set of macro-prudential tools that FI will have greater discretion over.