Unilever's Superannuation Fund has launched its long-awaited £130m (€207.4m) lawsuit against Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) with a fierce attack on Alistair Lennard, the manager who was responsible for the Unilever account, and on MLIM's risk controls.

Unilever is claiming that MLIM, which was trading under the name of Mercury Asset Management at the time, acted negligently. Unilever said MLIM, which it sacked as a fund manager after March 1998, took too much risk. MLIM is contesting the claim.