2011-01-20
PRESS RELEASE
Finansinspektionen has decided to issue remarks and penalty fees to Swedbank and Handelsbanken for deficiencies in their role as a depositary for investment funds. The banks shall pay SEK 2.5 million and SEK 3.5 million, respectively.
Depositaries are a central component of consumer protection on the fund market. Depositaries protect the money of unit holders but shall also regularly control how the fund management companies are managing their funds. FI has discovered deficiencies in the management of these control functions at Swedbank and Handelsbanken.
Swedbank has not conducted annual controls of all of the funds for which it serves as a depositary for a number of years. The control unit at the bank was also organised over a period of one year in such a way that a large number of the funds were not controlled at all.
Handelsbanken has not conducted sufficient and independent controls of investment funds managed by one of the bank's own fund management companies for several years. FI has also identified deficiencies in the bank's independence regarding the group's own fund management companies.
The operations and transactions of the individual investment funds at the fund management companies have not been investigated.
