By Christina Zander
STOCKHOLM--Two audits into alleged misuse of resources at
Svenska Cellulosa AB (SCA-B.SK) have found that representatives of
the Swedish hygiene product and paper company "acted in compliance
with Swedish law and the company's policies," SCA said
Wednesday.
The audits also conclude that there are no grounds to make
financial claims against individuals, the company said.
The Swedish daily SvD Naringsliv has made several allegations
over recent months about personal use of SCA's corporate jet by
then SCA chairman Sverker Martin-Lof and other executives.
The allegations led to the departure of Mr. Martin-Lof, a
powerful figure in the Swedish business world, and of SCA's chief
executive Jan Johansson. Mr. Johansson was replaced by Magnus Groth
this year.
Mr. Martin-Lof also stepped down as chairman in Swedish
investment giant Industrivarden (INDU-A.SK) and from the boards of
several of its portfolio companies in one of the biggest shake-ups
of corporate Sweden in decades. In addition to his chairmanship at
Industrivarden, Mr. Martin-Lof gave up his roles as chairman of
both SCA and steelmaker SSAB AB (SSAB-A.SK), the role of vice
chairman of Handelsbanken (SHB-B.SK) and Ericsson (ERIC), and a
board member at Skanska (SKA-B.SK).
Two audits, one by the accounting firm PwC, which was appointed
by the shareholders, and another set up by SCA's board from Svante
Forsberg, a public accountant at Deloitte, and Johan Munck, former
Justice of the Supreme Court, have ruled that neither Swedish law
nor company policy has been broken, the company said.
However, the latter of the two audits said that even if no
company policies was violated, SCA's policy regarding business
travels has been "generous."
An investigation by Sweden's national anti-corruption unit into
any possible misuse of SCA's corporate jet is continuing.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires