Legal services for foreign companies in Sweden
Ascend Law is the Swedish legal team for companies headquartered somewhere else. We advise on entering the Swedish market, transacting with Swedish companies, employing people here and staying compliant once you are established. All work is in English, on a fixed fee or capped estimate agreed before we start.
Market Entry and Establishment in Sweden
Before you sell, hire or set up in Sweden, you need to know what the law requires and which structure fits. We compare a subsidiary, a branch and direct sales against your plans, set out the obligations each brings, and structure the entry so it does not create problems in year three. Once the structure is decided, Corporate Service Sweden handles the registration and ongoing administration on a fixed fee.
Typical work: entry structure advice · subsidiary or branch set-up · articles of association and board composition · distributor and agent appointments · first-year compliance calendar
Cross-Border Transactions
We run the Swedish legal workstream on acquisitions, investments and joint ventures involving Swedish companies, alongside your lead counsel or running the deal ourselves. That covers Swedish-law due diligence, transaction documents and the local points a foreign firm cannot cover, from employee transfers to registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket).
Typical work: due diligence · share and asset purchase agreements · shareholders' agreements · investment and joint venture agreements · closing and registration
Swedish Employment Law for Foreign Employers
Swedish employment protection is stronger than in most common law jurisdictions and cannot be contracted away. Collective agreements can bind you through practice rather than signature. We advise foreign employers on their first hires, employment and executive contracts, collective agreement exposure, and reorganisations and terminations under the Employment Protection Act (LAS).
Typical work: employment and executive contracts · consultancy agreements · collective agreement assessments · reorganisations and terminations · employee transfers in transactions
Commercial Contracts Under Swedish Law
We draft, review and negotiate the agreements that carry your Swedish business. Where your group uses its own templates, we review them against Swedish requirements and mark up only what needs to change, including mandatory rules that apply whatever the contract says.
Typical work: distribution and agency agreements · supply and purchase agreements · SaaS and licence terms · NDAs · partnership and collaboration agreements
Statutory Representation in Sweden
Some EU and Swedish rules require a company to appoint a local representative. Ascend Law acts as your representative under Article 27 of the GDPR if you are established outside the EU and offer goods or services to, or monitor, people in the EU. Within the Ascendance group, Corporate Service Sweden acts as process agent for your Swedish company, and PPWR Sweden acts as authorised representative for packaging producer responsibility under Regulation (EU) 2025/40.
Corporate Governance and Ongoing Compliance
A Swedish company needs a properly composed board, timely shareholder decisions and annual filings to stay in good standing. We advise on board composition and residency requirements, prepare board and shareholder resolutions, and keep the corporate housekeeping in order. Routine administration can sit with Corporate Service Sweden on a fixed annual fee.
Typical work: board composition and residency · board and shareholder resolutions · amendments to articles of association · annual general meetings · beneficial ownership registration
Also available
We also advise foreign investors and Swedish subsidiaries of international groups on venture capital and private equity investments, employee incentive programmes (options and warrants), and intellectual property.
.How we charge
Fixed fees where the scope allows, capped estimates where it does not, always agreed in writing before work starts.
Not sure which of these you need?
Most engagements start with a free 30-minute call to work out what Swedish law actually requires in your situation.
