Alecta to lead class action lawsuit against First Republic Bank

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Swedish pension fund provider Alecta said on Tuesday it will lead a class action lawsuit against First Republic Bank (OTC:), with the aim of recovering as much as possible of the capital that investors lost when the U.S. niche bank collapsed this year.

U.S. regulators on May 1 seized First Republic Bank and sold its assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:), in a deal to resolve the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis and draw a line under a lingering banking turmoil.

Sweden’s largest pension fund provider lost 19.6 billion crowns ($1.92 billion) from share holdings in First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (OTC:).

“We have a duty to take the legal measures we can to recover as much of the capital as possible after the collapse of First Republic,” Alecta CEO Peder Hasslev, said in a statement.

The process is being conducted with the help of U.S. litigation lawyers, Alecta said.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Swedish pension fund AP7 were last week named co-lead plaintiffs in an ongoing class action relating to the now-bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).