The Swedish Fund Selection Agency (FTN) has formally contested an application for judicial review of its global equity fund procurement, as a legal challenge from Indecap Fonder AB continues to delay the rollout of new funds on Sweden’s premium pension platform.

The latest development follows earlier confirmation that the procurement process had been temporarily paused after a non-successful bidder requested a court review, halting agreements with selected providers and delaying access to the funds for pension savers.

Indecap Fonder submitted its application to the Administrative Court in Stockholm on 6 March, challenging the procurement.

FTN has now responded, submitting its formal statement on 23 March via its legal counsel, Hellströms Advokatbyrå, rejecting all claims.

FTN argued that there were no grounds for the procurement to be corrected or re-run, stating that Indecap Fonder has neither suffered nor risks suffering any loss under the relevant provisions of the procurement legislation.

It also maintained that the firm failed to notify alleged errors during the process and had not demonstrated that the legal requirement for damage had been met.

A central issue in the dispute related to the evaluation methodology.

Indecap Fonder has argued that FTN should not consider the fund manager when assessing fund quality.

However, FTN strongly rejected this interpretation, stating that it was both permitted and legally required under the Act (2022:760) on Procurement of Funds for the Premium Pension Fund Platform to assess multiple aspects of the fund manager in its evaluation.

The agency also responded to claims that Indecap Fonder should have received the highest score across all evaluation criteria, outlining specific shortcomings in the firm’s tender responses and operational capabilities for which maximum scores were not awarded.

FTN executive director, Erik Fransson, said the authority remained confident in its approach.

“We have carefully reviewed the procurement process and examined the claims put forward by Indecap Fonder.

"Our assessment remains that the procurement has been carried out in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations,” he stated.

He added that FTN hoped the matter could be resolved swiftly in the interests of pension savers, with the outcome of the Administrative Court’s review expected to determine when the procurement process could resume and when the selected funds could be made available.

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