Norway sovereign wealth fund to co-lead class action in SVB bankruptcy

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $1.5 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Friday it has been appointed by a U.S. court to co-lead an ongoing U.S. securities class action relating to the now-bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

SVB's collapse in March was the trigger for the worst banking shock since the 2008 global financial crisis, sending bank stocks globally on a wild ride.

The Norwegian fund said the SVB case raised significant concerns regarding the integrity of the public markets, the governance of large financial institutions and the interests of the investor community more broadly.

"We manage money on behalf of all Norwegians. I see it as our duty to take legal action to both maximise our recoveries after the SVB collapse and to signal that this is not acceptable market behaviour," the fund's Chief Executive Nicolai Tangen said in a statement.

The fund, which invests Norway's surplus oil and gas revenue abroad, is the world's biggest single stock market investor, owning some 1.5% of all globally listed shares with stakes in more than 9,200 companies.

It held a 1% stake in SVB at the end of 2022, valued at $137.9 million, according to data on the fund's website.

The other co-lead plaintiff in the class action is Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7), the Norwegian fund said.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis. Editing by Jane Merriman, Kirsten Donovan)