WHY SHOULD AN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY SET UP A BUSINESS INSWEDEN?
Companies relocate or expand to Sweden for a variety of reasons including its world-class infrastructure, highly qualified workforce, low degree of corruption, minimal bureaucracy, and welcoming business culture and high spending capacity of its consumers. Taken individually, any of these elements could be enough to justify said expansion, but when taken in all together they paint a clear picture of why there is a growing interest in joining the Swedish market by foreign businesses.
The business environment in Sweden is very welcoming to foreign direct investments lead to the not so surprising result of being a country of innovation. Examples of this are the many companies like Astra Zeneca, Cake, Ericsson, Klarna, Sandvik, Spotify, iZettle, and Volvo. Additionally, since 1995 Sweden is a part of the EU and as such provides access to a market of 28 countries and 510 million consumers. The Nordic economies are among the countries in the Western World with the best and most consistent performance in recent years.
Denmark, Finland Norway and Sweden are among the top largest economies in the world, with a high level of purchasing power. As the largest market in Scandinavia, Sweden is the ideal location for centralised operations in Northern Europe, a reason why Sweden is one of the world’s biggest beneficiaries of foreign investment relative to its size. Sweden also boasts strong public finances, a sound banking system, political stability and well-performing economy, making it a robust place to run a business. Sweden also holds excellent infrastructure through extensive public investments, for which the government has allocated for the next decade SEK 522 billion (€56 billion) for infrastructure projects. Finally, Sweden is one of the top countries in the world in terms of R&D investments relative to GDP.
Swedish business procedures are simple and efficient, built on a transparent system that welcomes new business enterprises. Key advantages of the Swedish business framework are:
- Lack of restrictions or disadvantages for foreign investors
- Clear rules for employment and redundancy of employees
- A competitive corporate tax framework
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO REGISTER A COMPANY IN SWEDEN?
The most common approach and first step to start or expand a business in Sweden is registering a Limited Liability Company, or Aktiebolag (AB) with the Swedish Companies Registration Office (SCRO). In order to do so, the following items are required:
- Memorandum of association
- The adopted articles of association
- Bank certificate from a Swedish bank or a bank within the European Economic Area (EEA), translated into Swedish
- Shareholder’s register
Once the above documents have been arranged, they must be sent to SCRO together with the appropriate form. Subsequently, additional registrations might be required depending on the business, ranging from taxes (like VAT and F-tax), or other business permits. Lastly, in accordance with Swedish Law, all limited companies must inform the SCRO of the identity of the ultimate beneficial owners (UBO:s).
WHAT SERVICES DOES NORDIC GEM PROVIDE?
While everything stated above is true, despite its simplicity, Sweden and the rest of the Nordic countries present several unique peculiarities or quirks, beyond the local language, that make it worth it relying on a local service provider like Nordic GEM:
- Domiciliation – Every company registered in Sweden must have a place of business in Sweden to run their operations
- Fiduciary Services – SCRO requires there be either a Board member residing in Sweden, or an agent authorised to receive services of process
- Corporate Secretarial – There are a number submission that are legally required to be made to SCRO (either periodically or as the need arises) over the course of the live of every registered company
- Statutory Bookkeeping – Every business has its own niche when it comes to taxation rules, and hiring an expert full time might not be either the most efficient or cost-effective solution
- Payroll Administration Services – Sweden offers some of the best working conditions in the world, and with it come attached a string of rules, regulations and procedure that must be followed, and, as for your bookkeeping, an in-house solution might not be the best fit, Nordic GEM can assist business in need with all the above and more
WHY SHOULD A COMPANY ENGAGE NORDIC GEM FOR THESE PROCESSES?
The answer to this question can be quite complex. The simplest one is that in many cases it is the best solution to run your business. That could easily be the case for new and emerging companies as well as for any enterprise that wants to branch out in another country while having a better oversight over the related expenses. From direct experience, we can safely say that relying on a partner is preferred solution for most name brands and largest companies.
RECRUITMENT IN SWEDEN – GO BEYONDO!
Are you new to the Swedish market and need assistance with recruiting the the right people? Beyondo has long experience in working with international companies, helping them navigating the Swedish job market. www.beyondo.se
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BEST ADVICE WHEN YOU AS A INTERNATIONAL SET UP YOUR BUSINESS IN SWEDEN?
The most important thing is to find the appropriate help. Establishing a business has many parallels with emigrating to a new country. It is a risky and sometimes scary prospect and the best way to succeed is to rely on others that know how to navigate the environment. Once that is done, the rest should follow easily.
DECLAIMER – THIS ARTICLE IS PUBSLISHED WITH THE CONSENT OF BEYONDO
