Swedish state pension buffer fund AP1 has begun selling SEK407m (€38.6m) worth of equities and bonds of Brazilian mining company Vale, after the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics recommended the exclusion the company from the AP funds’ portfolios.

The recommendation follows the fatal collapse of a tailings dam at one of its mining facilities in Brumadinho, Brazil, last month...

[T]he council said: “It would appear that the company did not act sufficiently quickly on reported deficiencies regarding the safety of the tailings dam in Corrego do Feijao.

"The consequences of the company’s actions have had devastating and tragic consequences… for the local population, company employees and the environment..."

At the start of this month, institutional investors led by the Church of England called for a global independent public classification system to monitor the safety risk of tailings dams, in the wake of the Brumadinho collapse that killed more than 100 people.

In a statement published on 19 February, fellow mining company BHP Billiton said it planned to meet investors and other interested bodies later this month to help speed up its work to improve the safety of its own dams. It also voiced support for an independent oversight body...