Shares in Swedish investment bank HQ AB plunged 84% Monday after its banking license was revoked by regulators over the weekend, pushing the bank into involuntary liquidation.
The Swedish financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen, pulled the bank's license on Saturday, citing violations of both Swedish accounting and capital requirement regulations.
In its assessment, the regulator said HQ had overvalued its trading portfolio and inaccurately reported its financial position, believing a correct valuation would have shown that the bank has been undercapitalized since December 2008.
"HQ Bank has demonstrated serious deficiencies in its trading operations. The bank has taken risks that were so large as to compromise its survival," Finansinspektionen said.
