SWEDEN – Sweden’s Premium Pension Authority, PPM, could be facing an investigation by Sweden’s Office of the Chancellor of Justice following complaints of delayed trading during May’s market turbulence.

Two people have laid complaints stating that the delays prevented pension savers moving their funds, while the funds’ value collapsed in line with the fall in markets, said one Swedish news report. They are also looking to claim damages.

An official at the justice office told IPE that a decision is likely to be reached before the end of next week on whether an investigation into the matter will be launched.

“The Chancellor hasn’t made any decisions so far whether to investigate it further or not,” said the official.

He added that there are other authorities, such as the Swedish Financial Services Authority, which usually deal with complaints against PPM.

“When that is the case, we quite often recommend the complainers to contact those authorities instead,” said the official.

However, the told Swedish Financial Services Authority stated that it has no authority to act in the event of reports made against the PPM.

“We have received complaints. I know that we have received maybe a handful, and that is because we partially supervise PPM, but we are in no position to act,” said a spokesperson for the Authority.

She added that the Swedish Finance Ministry is responsible for taking action against PPM.

The Office of the Chancellor of Justice could not confirm if more people have laid complaints in addition to the two reports made last week.

According to Swedish news reports, PPM was also reported to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. This authority, which runs parallel to the Office of the Chancellor of Justice, is due to undertake its own investigation shortly.

It is unclear whether the reports made to the Parliamentary Ombudsman are from the same people, who complained to the office of the Chancellor of Justice.

In May, IPE reported that PPM would extend its trade processing time amid a surge in the number of funds being switched by investors. The system of two days was due to change to three days under new requirements from the Swedish National Debt Office.

PPM did not respond to requests for comment.