Swedish business chief quits over Paradise Papers link

The head of Sweden’s main business organisation has resigned after revelations about his offshore ownership of shares, becoming one of the biggest victims of the so-called Paradise Papers.

Leif Ostling, former chief executive of truckmaker Scania and senior manager of Volkswagen, quit as chairman of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise on Wednesday morning.

Mr Ostling stoked criticism over the fact that he held investments through companies in Malta and Luxembourg by taking a defiant approach when first confronted this month.

“It’s a problem with the Swedish tax system: the taxes are insanely high in this country . . . You ask yourself: if you pay SKr20m to SKr30m ($2.4m to $3.6m) a year, what the hell do I get for the money?” he told Swedish television.

His comments were quickly denounced across the political spectrum in egalitarian Sweden. They also sparked a debate about the tax burden in the country, which has been cut in recent years but is still relatively high by European standards.

Mr Ostling, 72, was due to step down in May but brought the decision forward. “Sweden’s entrepreneurs must be able to argue for a better business environment, of which taxes are an important part, without being affected by possible debates about me,” he said in a statement.

Swedish business leaders are increasingly worried about what they see as a more hostile public and political attitude. Several chief executives and chairmen were forced to resign following reports of potential misuse of corporate jets but no criminal charges have been brought.

An investigation into alleged bribery over corporate hunting arrangements — which dragged in former finance minister Anders Borg — was dropped over the summer.

The centre-left government has been criticised by business for attacks on private companies running public services and for seeming to welcome the decision by Nordea, Sweden’s largest bank, to move its headquarters to Finland.

“I wouldn’t say we feel under attack, but we definitely don’t feel appreciated,” said one well-placed business leader.

It is not the first time that Mr Ostling has courted controversy over his pronouncements. In 2006, in the middle of successfully defending Scania against a hostile takeover from rival truckmaker MAN, he described the German company’s tactics as a “blitzkrieg” and approvingly cited Winston Churchill’s “blood, sweat and tears” phrase.

A previous leak of offshore documents known as the Panama Papers led to the resignations of the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan. The release of the Paradise Papers — 13m documents from the offshore law firm Appleby — have yet to result in big-name casualties, Mr Ostling aside.