(Bloomberg) -- The Swedish pension fund embroiled in last year’s US banking crisis runs the risk of possible sanctions over the investment missteps that led to $3.2 billion in losses and writedowns.
Alecta has been notified by the Financial Supervisory Authority in Stockholm that a preliminary probe into its stakes in landlord Heimstaden Bostad AB and three defunct lenders including Silicon Valley Bank has been moved to a sanction review, FSA spokesperson Tomas Tolonen said by phone.
“Before taking a decision on a sanction, we will make a solid legal assessment of the observations we have made in an investigation,” Tolonen said on Wednesday. Such a decision will be made by the FSA’s board, he added.
The fund’s 39% stake in the Swedish landlord is also the subject of a bribery investigation by public prosecutors in Sweden but it is unclear if any former or existing managers will face criminal charges.
Alecta, which manages about $120 billion for a quarter of the country’s population, has already witnessed an exodus of senior executives over the soured investments, as well as two failed chair appointments. In an attempt to revamp its governance and investment processes, the fund this spring refreshed the board with new financial and legal experts.
The pension group publishes a performance report for the second quarter on Aug. 20.
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