Sweden’s Administrative Court has rejected asset manager Indecap Fonder’s application for a review of the Swedish Fund Selection Agency’s procurement of actively managed global equity funds, removing a legal obstacle to implementing the tender.
The court in Stockholm ruled today (14 October) that the agency’s procurement had been conducted correctly and rejected Indecap’s application in its entirety.
“The judgment is an important step towards giving savers access to the procured funds, which offer lower fees and high quality,” said Erik Fransson, executive director of the Swedish Fund Selection Agency.
The court found that the procurement of fund units for Sweden’s premium pension fund platform fell under the free movement of capital and therefore outside the scope of the Concessions Directive.
Indecap had challenged several aspects of the procurement, including the evaluation model, the submission of information before interviews, the assessment of mandatory requirements, the scoring of its tender, and the agency’s disclosure and documentation obligations.
However, the court found no grounds to intervene. It concluded that the agency had acted correctly in requesting information ahead of interviews, assessing mandatory requirements and fulfilling its disclosure and documentation obligations.
The court also noted that Indecap’s tender had ranked 53rd in the final evaluation and that several objections had been raised only during the review proceedings. It found that the company had not demonstrated that it had suffered, or risked suffering, the harm required for the court to intervene.
“The Swedish Fund Selection Agency welcomes the Administrative Court’s judgment,” Fransson said, adding that it confirms that the procurement in question was carried out correctly in accordance with Sweden’s Public Procurement Act.
The ruling marks a step towards making the selected funds available to Swedish pension savers. The agency said the judgment confirmed its position on all matters examined.
