Sweden ditches amortisation requirement in response to Coronavirus

The Swedish Financial Superisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, FI) has determined that the loss of income due to Coronavirus constitutes "special grounds" necessary for lenders and borrowers to legally stop amortisation payments on loans. The regulator has for a number of years sought to increase the amortisation burden to lower household leverage ratios, which surged in response to sharp rises in property prices over the past decade, leading borrowers previously on interest only or very low amortisation mortgages increaed their borrowings to fund discretionary spending on things such a...