Swedish Prime Minister calls on EU to do more to retain tech companies

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has warned that Europe needs to focus more on its capital markets to retain tech companies listing on US stock exchanges, according to the Financial Times.

Sweden has recently been excluded from initial public offerings (IPOs) launched by several domestic tech companies, including fintech giant Klarna and music streaming company Spotify. While Spotify listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018, Klarna has also shared its plans to do the same, having already filed to go public.

Another Swedish startup, a self-driving truck company called Einride, is reportedly considering going public in the United States, rather than also in Sweden or Europe. Although the Nordic country continues to attract more IPOs than other European countries like France and Spain, this trend of domestic companies listing in the US could affect its capital market in the long term.