BlackRock in US iShares row
TWO US pension funds have filed a lawsuit against BlackRock, alleging that the world’s biggest asset manager had “looted” securities-lending revenues from iShares exchange-traded funds investors, and breached its fiduciary duties.
In the suit, filed in Tennessee, the pension funds allege that several iShares ETFs spent funds on “grossly excessive compensation” to agents affiliated with the ETFs, as well as on other agents, and they want to recover the funds for investors.
BlackRock president Robert Kapito and iShares chairman Michael Latham are named as defendants in the suit. BlackRock said yesterday the complaint was without merit, adding it will “contest it vigorously”.