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HQ

HQ to seek damages from ex-management

Swedish investment bank HQ, which was forced into liquidation last year, said Monday it aimed to seek compensation from former board members, top executives and the company accountant for its woes.

HQ to seek damages from ex-management

HQ AB, the former parent company of the defunct bank, said in a statement it planned to propose “that compensation to the company be demanded from former board members, the chief executive and the accountant (KPMG).

“Beyond that, the board could also demand compensation from former leading executives in HQ AB and HQ Bank,” it said, adding that the proposal would be presented at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on April 18.

HQ Bank, which managed around 60 billion kronor ($9.4 billion) from some 20,000 depositors, was taken over by its competitor Carnegie for 268 million kronor last September after authorities at the end of August revoked its licences and forced it into liquidation.

The bank’s former parent company HQ AB, which is the only independent part of the company remaining, said it considered the dividends paid out in 2009 and 2010, relating to the accounting years 2008 and 2009, were illegal.

It said it planned to demand the repayment of money paid out “in poor faith,” and that it wanted compensation of around 330 million kronor in total.

HQ AB also said it had been conducting a probe into the bank’s collapse but had run into difficulty since HQ Bank’s new owner Carnegie had refused to cooperate.

The HQ AB board said it was therefore considering pushing for a court injunction to force Carnegie to hand over the requested documents.

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HQ

HQ scandal splits Swedish business duo

Sven Hagströmer and his long-term business partner Mats Qviberg have announced that their holding firm Öresund is to be divided in the wake of a scandal involving the now defunct HQ bank.

HQ scandal splits Swedish business duo

“It took 30 seconds. We met on August 31st and after five minutes, we were basically agreed on what we wanted to do. We have been working with this deal since then,” Mats Qviberg said to the TT news agency.

According to the proposal Qviberg will assemble his holdings in a new Öresund with Fabege, Bilia and Skistar among the large posts.

Hagströmer will meanwhile shift his holdings into a new company, Newco, which will initially be listed on the Stockholm stock exchange’s First North index.

In a statement on Wednesday Öresund explain that the developments at subsidiary HQ worked as a “catalyst” for then Hagströmer and Qviberg decided on the split.

HQ Bank, which managed around 60 billion kronor ($9.4 billion) from some 20,000 depositors, was taken over by its competitor Carnegie for 268 million kronor in September 2010 after authorities revoked its licences and forced it into liquidation.

The bank’s former parent company HQ AB, which is the only independent part of the company remaining, announced in February it planned to propose “that compensation to the company be demanded from former board members, the chief executive and the accountant (KPMG)”.

The Swedish anti-fraud authorities are furthermore pursuing an investigation into the collapse of HQ Bank.

When asked by TT whether they remained good friends, Qviberg replied:

“Very, we are sitting here opposite one another, we live as neighbours in the mountains, and have a nice time together.”

But Sven Hagströmer told the business daily Dagens Industri in an interview that the pair would no longer be sharing an office.

The pair emphasised that the decision was taken together and that the alternative of closing the firm had been discussed, and dismissed after the tax consequences were taken into account.

The stock market received the news of the company division positively and Öresund shares climbed 5 percent during the early trading on Wednesday.

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