Stichting Pensioenfonds Yara Nederland, Sluiskil, Netherlands, filed a lawsuit in Boston against State Street Bank and Trust and SSgA over the transfer of $32 million of the pension fund’s assets in an SSgA 130/30 strategy to Lehman Brothers, which subsequently became frozen when Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection in September.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, claims both State Street Bank and SSgA violated their fiduciary obligations.
“We intend to defend ourselves against this litigation,” said SSgA spokeswoman Arlene Roberts.
Ms. Roberts said SSgA believes its decision to use Lehman Brothers International-Europe as a prime broker for Yara’s 130/30 mandate was “appropriate,” and noted that “we are working aggressively with our bankruptcy and litigation counsel, both in the U.S. and the U.K., to recover the assets which have been frozen due to Lehman Brothers International-Europe’s insolvency.”
