NY State Pension Fund To Sue BP Over Investment Losses

23rd Jun 2010 16:51

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES New York's state pension fund said it will sue oil giant BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) for its "disastrous" management of the oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the state's comptroller. The New York State Common Retirement Fund, with $132.6 billion in assets, owned more than 19 million shares at the time of the event. Since an explosion on April 20 that destroyed an oil rig and killed 11 crew workers, BP's shares on both sides of the Atlantic have lost about half of their value. The stock is widely held by pension funds. "BP misled investors about its safety procedures and its ability to respond to events like the ongoing oil spill and we're going to hold it accountable," said New York Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. A BP spokesperson wasn't immediately available to comment on the lawsuit. DiNapoli is seeking to lead a class action suit against BP to give the state's fund and other investors an opportunity to recover damages sustained from the decline of the company's shareholder value after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill. The fund provides benefits to more than 1 million active and retired state and local government employees, police officers and firefighters. BP, meanwhile, has been scrambling to cap the well and contain the spill. It has faced intense pressure in the U.S., moving to suspend dividend payments this year and agreeing to pay $20 billion over the next three and a half years into a fund to cover claims from the spill. BP's ADS were recently up 3 cents to $29.71. -By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; [email protected] (Jilian Mincer of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 23, 2010 11:51 ET (15:51 GMT)