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Kuwait pension fund's $1 billion corruption lawsuit begins in UK court
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Kuwait's pension fund sues Man Group and EFG Bank in UK for $1 billion over alleged bribes linked to its former director.
LONDON (Reuters) - Kuwait's public pension fund accused asset manager Man Group, Swiss bank EFG and others of laundering bribes paid to its late director as a year-long $1 billion trial began at London's High Court on Monday.
The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS), which operates Kuwait's social security and pension scheme, is suing the estate of Fahad Al Rajaan, its director from 1984 to 2014.
Al Rajaan was in 2016 convicted in his absence of corruption and embezzling public money in Kuwait and died in London in 2022.
PIFSS alleges that, over the course of two decades, Al Rajaan and his associates received at least $970 million in bribes, described as commission payments which banks and investment companies did not need to pay.
It is suing Man Group seeking around $156 million, alleging the London-listed fund was involved in bribes paid to Al Rajaan to obtain PIFSS investment in Man products.
But Man – whose CEO Robyn Grew and her predecessors are due to give evidence – say there is no evidence for PIFSS' case, which a spokesperson said it is "robustly defending".
"PIFSS has not identified any evidence showing that Man or its current or former employees knew of any wrongdoing," the spokesperson said.
Its lawyers said in court filings that Man knew nothing about Al Rajaan's corruption "let alone (did it) intend for any bribery to occur".
EFG Bank is also fighting the case, in which PIFSS is seeking around $450 million for allegedly helping to launder corrupt payments.
"PIFSS' bid to recover $450 million from a bank which paid no bribes and was not to any extent unjustly enriched through its relevant dealings is opportunistic and ill-conceived," its lawyer Camilla Bingham said in court filings.
She added that the Kuwaiti state had already recovered around $600 million.
The trial is due to conclude in early 2026.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
The article discusses Kuwait's pension fund suing Man Group and EFG Bank in the UK for $1 billion over alleged corruption.
Fahad Al Rajaan was the director of Kuwait's pension fund from 1984 to 2014, accused of corruption and embezzlement.
Man Group is accused of being involved in paying bribes to secure investments from Kuwait's pension fund.
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