Klarna, the Swedish fintech that provides buy now, pay later services, was fined 500 million Swedish Kronor ($46 million) by Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority for violating anti-money laundering rules.

The regulator in a Dec. 11 statement said that Klarna had “significant deficiencies” in its crime prevention measures, including failing to assess how its services could be used for money laundering or terrorist financing. 

The fine comes as Klarna prepares to go public. The $14.6 billion Stockholm-based firm on Nov. 14 filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. 

Costly crime

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that between $2.22 trillion and $5.54 trillion was laundered in 2024. The agency says money laundered worldwide annually constitutes 2% to 5% of global GDP. 

Under the Empact 2022-2025 mandate, the European Union provides member states, including Sweden, with intelligence to prevent and combat money laundering activities.  

“The anti-money laundering regulations must be followed. It is important to counteract the risk that the firm’s operations could be used by criminals,” Daniel Barr, director general of Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority, said on Dec. 11. 

Klarna speaks up

Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority said that its investigation found that Klarna cut corners rather than performing due diligence and establishing clear, thorough anti-money laundering procedures and guidelines.

Klarna contested the Financial Supervisory Authority’s findings. The fintech in a December statement defended its stance on money laundering and said that the Financial Supervisory Authority’s decision was related to “rule interpretation and application, and not to actual cases of money laundering.” 

Klarna isn’t shy about its stance on efficiency. The fintech stopped hiring in 2023 because Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski is “of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we as humans do,” he told Bloomberg News earlier this month. 

The company employs 3,500 people worldwide compared with 4,500 in 2023, Siemiatkowski said.

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.  

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