US investment firm Manning & Napier ($31.7bn AuM) files a claim against UK retailer Tesco over its 2014 accounting scandal. The follows an earlier lawsuit filed against Tesco in October by Allianz Global Investors, Russell Investments and 110 other investors. In 2014 Tesco disclosed that it had misstated its profits during the first half of that year. The discrepancy eventually grew to £326m and Tesco reported a £6.3bn loss in 2015. Tesco argues that the profit misstatement was not large enough in any given year to exceed the materiality threshold set by its auditors, in 2014 at £15m (5% of pre-tax profit). Three former Tesco executives are standing trial for fraud. They were charged in 2017 after Tesco was found to have inflated its profits in 2014. A £129m fine on the company was imposed by the UK Serious Fraud Office and Tesco opened a £85m investor compensation scheme for shareholders who lost money due to the scandal.
