Ex-Skandia boss ruling appealed

Prosecutor Christer van der Kwast has asked that the Supreme Court review an appeals court ruling clearing former Skandia CEO Lars-Eric Petersson of charges in a case involving bonuses paid out by the insurance company in 2000.

• Agency to probe internet outage at Swedish bank (11 May 11)
• Appeals court clears ex-Skandia director (1 Jun 09)
• Smokers face higher insurance costs (30 May 09)

Van der Kwast has asked Sweden’s Prosecutor General to review his application to have the ruling appealed.

If the Prosecutor General agrees with van der Kwast’s position, the appeal request will be sent to the Supreme Court, which will then ultimately decide whether the acquittal stands.

“I’ve changed my mind and now want the Supreme Court to try the case. There are important legal questions in the judgment to acquit which I think the Supreme Court must review,” said van der Kwast.

Pettersson was originally sentenced by the Stockholm district court to two years in prison for bypassing the Skandia board and authorizing the removal of a ceiling in the company’s Weatherbuilder bonus program. The move cost Skandia 156 million kronor, according to the judgment.

But the court of appeals acquitted Petersson on all charges.

“In my opinion, the different judgments by the district court and the appeals court show that it remains unclear on which premises a decision by the board of a publicly held company should be considered to have been taken, and how the question of intent should be judged when a CEO and the board have different understandings of what the board decided or approved,” writes van der Kwast.

Van der Kwast considers the appeals court judgment to be incomplete and that the court’s opinion gives a misleading picture of the evidence presented.