Ericsson shares slump as telecommunications firm says it may have made payments to Islamic State

Shares of Ericsson ERIC, +2.47% ERIC.A, -9.78% ERIC.B, -10.57% slumped on Wednesday a day after the Swedish telecommunications giant disclosed “serious breaches of compliance rules” over Iraq dealings. U.S.-listed shares fell 8% in premarket trading, echoing losses seen in Stockholm. The company found corruption-related misconduct and questionable payments in Iraq dealings dating back to 2018. As well, investigators found potential money-laundering risks and possible payments even made to terrorist groups such as Islamic State, though Ericsson said it couldn’t tell if any employee had been directly financing such organizations. The fresh revelations from the investigation come after the company had been questioned by the media on the subject.