Published 13 March 2023 at 14.46
Economics. Alecta turned out to be a major shareholder in three American banks that are now collapsing. The Swedish pension giant is now called to the Financial Supervisory Authority.
– This is serious, admits Alecta's press manager Jacob Lapidus in an interview with Aftonbladet.
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Bank crashes in the USA
- Alecta major shareholder in both crashed banks
- Third bank collapses in the US
- US bank crash spreads to Europe
< p>Sillicon Valley Bank, First Republic and Signature Bank are the names of the three American banks that are collapsing and that risk dragging the world economy down with them in the fall.
It has turned out that Swedish Alecta has invested tens of billions of kroner in the the three banks, which have a focus on cryptocurrencies – billions that now appear to be lost.
In a confused interview with Aftonbladet, Alecta's press manager Jacob Lapidus is asked why a Swedish pension manager chooses to invest in American niche banks.
– Alecta manages a lot of capital, and we do it with a model that should be very cost-effective. And then we make very few but large investments. And then you can't limit yourself to Swedish shares, answers Jacob Lapidus, who is the brother of “Snabba Cash” author Jens Lapidus.
Alecta's CEO Magnus Billing admits to Sveriges Radio that the investments were “a failure”.
– No, it is naturally not good when an event like this occurs. It is not good for Alecta and our reputation, he says.
Alecta held a crisis meeting on Monday morning to discuss the lost pension billions.
Later in the day, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) announced in a press release that Alecta and other Swedish insurance and occupational pension companies were called to a meeting. FI wants to “talk about the investments they have in American banks and other exposures to the sector that the American banks have targeted”.
FI will investigate how large holdings the companies have in the American banks as well as “hear what analysis the companies are doing about the situation and how the companies will handle the situation going forward”.
In addition, FI is in contact with the major Swedish banks. However, the authority assesses that none of them have their own large direct exposures to the American banks that have now experienced problems.
The regulations for the banks look different in Sweden and the EU compared to how it looks in the USA. Here, all banks are subject to stricter regulatory requirements to guarantee that there are liquidity buffers and more stable balance sheets. Sweden has also gone further than the international agreements in that FI imposes capital requirements for interest rate risks outside the trading stock.
The Swedish government tells TT that they follow developments hour by hour and that they are prepared to act if necessary.< /p>