The Swedish Pensions Agency has submitted a lawsuit to the Stockholm District Court against UBS Third Party Management Company, part of Swiss bank UBS.

It is claiming approximately USD 42m for what it alleges were investments that generated income for the owners of a fund company that UBS Third Party delegated the management of a SICAV fund with two sub-funds to.

The agency alleges that the Swiss bank delegated the management of the funds to Prognosia AB, and Prognosia then “did not act in the interest” of fund unit holders when it bought “high-risk financial products” in February 2015.

The lawsuit alleges that these investments were made to generate income for the owners of Prognosia, and that UBS Third Party was, despite the delegation, responsible for the management of the funds in relation to the Swedish Pensions Agency and the pension savers who chose the funds.

The funds previously existed on the Swedish Pensions Agency’s marketplace and the authority is filing the lawsuit on behalf of the pension savers affected.

Commenting on the announcement, Swedish Pensions Agency general counsel, Lena Aronsson, said: “We submit a lawsuit to get back money that we believe pension savers and pensioners have lost in connection with UBS Third Party's inadequate management of certain pension funds that previously existed on the Swedish Pensions Agency's fund marketplace.”

In response, a UBS spokesperson commented: “We will review the claim. To date the SPA has not presented evidence that substantiates the alleged mismanagement by Prognosia.”

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