KUWAIT: Kuwait's Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) has filed a libel suit with the supreme court of the United Kingdom against asset management company Man Group PLC and its subsidiaries. PIFSS said in a press release yesterday it is seeking tentative compensation amounting to $156 million, charging the company with making clandestine deals with a former official of the institution between 1996 and 2013. The institution said it filed the libel suit in November, but abstained from revealing the legal move pending official approval.

The press release quoted Finance Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf as saying that instructions by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah with respect to combating corruption and taking legal action were implemented this year. Hajraf, as cited by the press release, said PIFSS had taken legal measures against officials of Abraj Holding Group, and now these procedures will be completed against a British financial company and its group, affirming its approach to reforms and legally punishing the corrupt.

Meanwhile, PIFSS Director General Hamad Al-Humaidhi said the institution filed the libel case after completing examination of past investments and acquiring needed evidence and documents. PIFSS has taken the legal measures against the investment manager of the British company, he said, affirming that it will continue scrutinizing relevant enterprises and taking the warranted legal measures to reclaim public funds with the support of the political leadership and the Cabinet. - KUNA