"The central bank’s presence in the capital market has increased markedly in the last decade, which makes for an exciting workplace,” Anders Nordborg said in emailed comments. The move was also confirmed by a Riksbank spokesperson.

The bank had been on the lookout for a Swedish credit trader ahead of an announcement last month that it would buy about USD 1bn worth of corporate bonds as part of an expanded quantitative easing program to help shelter the economy from the virus pandemic.

Nordborg previously worked as a portfolio manager at Trude Asset Management, a credit hedge fund that was wound up in 2019. Prior to that he worked at SEB and Nordea in Stockholm, according to his Linkedin profile.

In what has been described as "a historic role" for the Swedish fixed-income market, Nordborg now faces challenges on multiple fronts. The mandate to buy corporate bonds is only a fraction of the Riksbank’s total SEK 500bn (USD 57bn) QE program, leading some some investors to question whether or not it would have an impact.

Another hurdle relates to issues around price transparency in the bond market and a lack of public ratings, which may limit how much the central bank can buy in the nation’s USD 45bn krona-denominated investment-grade market.

Even the legality of such purchases has been questioned, with the the top expert advising the parliament committee that oversees the central bank saying bond buys of this nature are off limits under existing law. "It will be incredibly fun to to be part of the Riksbank
family," Nordborg said.