The Pension Fund is suing Volkswagen – Dagbladet.no

(Dagbladet): Government Pension Fund – Oil Fund, which is one of the largest shareholders in Volkswagen, now goes to court against car giant.

– I can confirm that we plan to take part in a legal claim against Volkswagen, as a result of the erroneous information on emissions, says CIO Helena Östman Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the Pension Fund, to Dagbladet.

Emissions Scandal

In last fall hit the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA determined that Volkswagen has installed software in their diesel vehicles that show falsely low emissions of harmful substances when the vehicles tested.

the revelations led to a global scandal for the German company, which is one of the world’s largest automakers. Following Volkswagen has gotten hurt your scrotum due cheated.

the fund is the fourth largest shareholder in Volkswagen. The fund has a stake in Volkswagen of 1.22 percent. At its peak last year were the shares in carmaker worth 14.14 billion.

At the end of 2015 were the shares worth about 7 billion, according to a British financial newspaper Financial Times, which first publicized lawsuit. The value of its stake had then fallen by over 7 billion. Oil Fund itself has a value of 7,000 billion.

– This is the board’s responsibility to get out accurate and timely information to shareholders. Volkswagen informed the public after the US Environmental Protection Agency told about the software. As an investor, it is our responsibility to follow up on our investments, says Sevang Dagbladet.

A class action

Oil Fund will take part in a class action, which will be submitted to the German courts in the coming weeks.

– Why is this happening now?

– We have long considered Volkswagens governance structure, and followed up the company for long. We as an investor has the responsibility to ensure the Fund’s investments, says Sevang.

He does not want to confirm the contents of the lawsuit, or what kind of requirements that will be set to the vehicle manufacturer.

– The management should have known

According to Bloomberg’s Oil Fund the largest shareholder in Volkswagen who do not have a seat on the board.

Investeringsdirekør Petter Johnsen at Norges Bank Investment Management, says the Financial Times that they are skeptical of Volkswagen’s statements that software made emissions cheated only was the result of each employee’s actions.

– Volkswagen’s leadership should have shown whether manipulation software, he says.

– We have seen few signs of change in Volkswagen’s management, says Johnsen.

Fund has informed the company’s chairman, Hans Dieter Pötsch , about the lawsuit. Volkswagen has not wanted to comment on opposite Financial Times.

Hagler in litigation

In January it was announced that the US Justice Department has sued Volkswagen of emissions cheated.

Approximately 600,000 vehicles sold in the US will be affected. According to news agency AP, they risk fines of more than 160 billion Norwegian kroner. They will subsequently have offered to buy back 500,000 cars from the US market.

The US Environmental Protection Agency EPA has previously said that Volkswagen must fix cars at his own expense, and they also risk a sizeable fine. The company has set aside 150 billion to clean up the scandal. The Group posted a loss of 1.6 billion euros in 2015, almost 15 billion.

The agency reviews the use of the program as “illegal and a threat to public health.”