- You hear from both the financial sector and the larger companies that "we have been naive". What it is about is that you have not taken responsibility for having systems that prevent corruption, says Ulrik Åshuvud, chairman of Transparency International Sweden.

The Swedish banks that were revealed this year with suspected money laundering transactions, Swedbank and SEB, are the ones that expanded the fastest, became the largest and made the most money in the Baltics in the early 2000s.

At the same time, corrupt money poured into the Baltic from Russia, not least from the giant tax fraud revealed by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was subsequently imprisoned and died.

Too naive

Assignment Review has now revealed that both Swedbank and SEB have let companies linked to the Magnitsky hive lock money through their subsidiaries in the Baltics. And not only the new Swedbank Governor, but also the Governor of the Riksbank and the Minister of Finance have pointed out that the banks and control bodies have been too naive to put an end to the suspected money laundering.

- Abroad, it sounds very negative to say that you were naive, but in Sweden it is considered a more okay explanation, says Ulrik Åshuvud, chairman of Transparency International Sweden.

Also, Telia, who was forced to pay a fine in 2017 for billion payments to the dictator's daughter in Uzbekistan, explained that the business management did not "have knowledge". But anti-corruption expert Anna Romberg, who worked at Telia when doing her business with dictatorial states in the east, and who helped clean up after the revelations, says they certainly received signals internally.

- The questions that were asked to Telia in 2012-2013 in connection with the big scandal had been asked to senior executives in 2009-2010. They asked who the local partner in this company in Gibraltar was, and then the answer was "I don't know, why should I care about it", says Anna Romberg.

Billions earned

Both the banks and Telia have for many years earned multibillion amounts in their new foreign markets. For Ericsson, which a few weeks ago was fined just over SEK 10 billion to US authorities for suspected bribes in different parts of the world, of course, it is also billionaire profits that have risen.

-Is it not close at hand to think that you are generally just closed because there is so much money in it?

-Yes, says Anna Romberg.

-Also on Telia?

-Yes. It was terribly profitable. But in the long run, it wasn't that profitable, says Anna Romberg.

Companies with ancestry

Swedbank, SEB, Telia and Ericsson are all companies with ancient origins, founded in the 19th century.

And Ericsson's CEO is relatively new to that position, but has been on Ericsson's Board of Directors since 2006, and has been CEO of Investor, which manages world export companies within the Wallenberg sphere.

-I have a responsibility for this, says Börje Ekholm.

-And how long has Ericsson been doing international business?

-Since 1876.

-Can you not expect then that you know that this problem exists and that you can end up in that you think you need to bribe?

-Yes it's totally unacceptable. We have a zero tolerance for this, and have had it for a long time. We have employees, or former employees, you can say now, who have taken advantage of the shortcomings that have been in the system.

SVT has tried to reach Lars Nyberg who was CEO of Telia Sonera during the current period, but without success.