The CHF23bn (€24.7bn) pension fund for the canton of Geneva, CPEG, is facing a court battle over the disclosure of its investments.
Investigative organisation WAV will file an appeal with Geneva’s administrative court against CPEG’s refusal to disclose its investments.
The deadline for filing the appeal is 29 August but, given the court’s summer recess, WAV intends to take legal action around 14 September, Olivier Christe of WAV said.
CPEG is refusing to provide data on its investments for 2025, arguing that disclosure is a complicated process requiring the involvement of a third party, in this case the custodian bank, according to a document from the Cantonal Data Protection and Transparency Officer (PPDT).
In July, the data protection and transparency officer, which oversees the application of the law on public information, access to documents and protection of personal data (LIPAD), recommended that the pension fund disclose its investments.
Mediation between the parties, attended by the deputy commissioner for transparency and data protection, the complainant, CPEG’s manager responsible for applying the LIPAD regulation and the scheme’s financial director, took place in June but was unsuccessful.
CPEG’s manager responsible for the LIPAD regulation informed the cantonal commissioner that neither cantonal law nor federal occupational pension law imposes an obligation to publish investments.
According to a letter sent by CPEG to WAV, several exceptions to disclosure included in the LIPAD regulation apply.
Publishing the list of investments is not appropriate at this stage, as internal deliberations regarding the pension fund’s investment exclusion criteria are currently underway, CPEG said in the letter.
Moreover, disclosing the list of investments would jeopardise the pension fund’s legitimate financial interests, specifically by exposing it to significant political pressure regarding its investment strategy, the letter added.
The case against CPEG could eventually reach the Federal Court following a decision by the administrative court.
CPEG has not replied to a request for comment.
Transparency offensive
Public pension funds in Switzerland are under pressure to disclose their investments under laws governing data protection and transparency.
So far, WAV has asked for the investment lists of the pension fund for employees of the canton of Aargau (APK), Publica, the Pensionskasse of the city of Zurich (PKZH), the Pensionskasse of the canton of Schwyz and the Basel-Landschaft scheme (BLPK), among others, to be published.
The Federal Supreme Court is expected to decide on a case involving the pension fund of the canton of Vaud (CPEV) and the inter-municipal scheme Caisse intercommunale de pensions (CIP).
“Switzerland is a major pension fund market and there are many questions when it comes to financial, climate risks, sustainability and ethical questions,” Christe said.
