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Administration July 29, 2011
OK Probing FOREX Transactions for State Pension Funds
July 29, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced he is launching an investigation into how various financial institutions are handling state pension investments.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
BusinessWeek reports that Pruitt said he sent letters to several custodial banks seeking information on investment transactions, particularly those involving foreign currency exchanges.
“This is not something we’re doing on a whim. It’s not something we’re doing blind,” Pruitt said, according to the news report. “We’re doing it because we’ve been informed to a degree that we believe it’s something we need to pay attention to and look into. What it leads to is unknown. It may not lead to anything.”
Pruitt declined to say who notified his office of possible fraud or what firms are being investigated.
The news report said state pension funds generally have about 20% of portfolios invested internationally, and Pruitt said his probe will focus on how those international investments are handled.
The assets of Oklahoma’s major public pension systems total about $21.4 billion, according to the state Pension Commission.
State Street Corp. is facing several lawsuits over its FOREX trading practices (see AR Pension Fund Suing State Street over Foreign Exchange Trades).