SWEDEN - The Swedish Solvency II inquiry, which is tasked with implementing the EU-wide rules in Sweden, has been delayed.

The original timeframe for reporting findings to the public - after 18 months of work - was this month.

But Daniel Barr, who heads the inquiry, said this would no longer be possible, as the final form of the directive will not be ready until the end of the year.

Barr said he hoped to submit his report some time in October.

In other news, investors continued to shun equity funds in July, favouring bond funds instead, according to statistics from the Swedish Investment Fund Association, Fondbolagens Förening.

However, outflows slowed compared with June.

July saw outflows of SEK2.1bn (€230m) from equity funds and inflows of SEK3.3bn into bond funds, with some SEK800m going into balanced funds.

Investors also sold money market funds and hedge funds for SEK1.3bn and SEK900m, respectively.

So far this year, SEK12bn have been invested in funds, the majority of which has gone into balanced funds.

Finally, Sveriges Pensionförvalares Förening (SvePen), a recently created association for pension asset managers, has appealed the government's decision to ban mass-transfers within the country's defined contribution system, PPM.

SvePen handed in its appeal last week to the Supreme Administrative Court, arguing that the government has not acted according to due process in the matter.

It asked the Swedish Pensions Agency, Pensionsmyndigheten, to make mass-transfers impossible through technology.

SvePen argues that the decision-making process has not been handled correctly because it was not taken by the parliament, but through the government's instruction to the agency on how to act.

It wants the judicial review to be determined through face-to-face negotiations and that the government's decision be put on hold until the issue is resolved.

Mass-transfers are when financial advisers use internet bots - or web robots - to access client information and swap between funds in the system. These transfers can be done for 100,000 members at the same time.

According to the agency, mass-transfers create problems for fund companies that suddenly get large buy or sell orders.

This, in turn, can hurt other fund holders and cause problems for the Pensions Agency's IT system.

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