Case Spotlight: Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras)
By Andrew Lasky, Legal Product Specialist, Financial Recovery Technologies
| Company | Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Netherlands |
| Exchange | Bovespa and various European exchanges |
| Industry | Petroleum |
| Claims | Corruption, money laundering, bribery and securities violations |
CASE BACKGROUND
Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run energy company, is embroiled in the largest corruption scandal in Brazilian history. An investigation dubbed “Operation Car Wash” by local Brazilian law enforcement authorities alleges that former Petrobras executives falsely inflated the value of construction projects for their own profit and paid kickbacks to politicians. Numerous Petrobras executives, politicians, and contractors have been arrested and jailed, while the revelations of this scandal have caused significant declines in Petrobras’s securities prices and massive investor losses.
Currently, there are global settlement efforts underway in the Netherlands in regards to the Petrobras Dutch Foundation. The Foundation is being organized by International Securities Associations and Foundations Management Company on behalf of Damaged Petrobras Investors (Bovespa) Ltd. (“ISAF Petrobras”).
The Foundation covers those who purchased common or preferred shares of Petrobras and/or bonds issued by Petrobras Global Finance B.V. or Petrobras International Finance Company S.A. any time before July 28, 2015, and suffered damages as a result of the alleged fraud.
Recently, Petrobras settled their U.S. action for $2.9 billion. ISAF is confident that this settlement will encourage an early settlement in their Foundation as well. This Foundation is the last opportunity for investors to recover from Petrobras. ISAF has informed FRT that registration in this matter will remain open until a settlement is reached.
DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY & COSTS
Eligible investors wishing to join the Foundation will be asked to sign a participation agreement. You may also (but are not required to) sign a Foundation support letter, which will publicly indicate your support for the Foundation efforts.
There will be no out-of-pocket cost risk if you participate, and all costs will be borne by the litigation funders, and will only be recouped in the event of a successful outcome.
Your participation in the Foundation will be confidential except for disclosure of your identity to Petrobras in connection with settlement discussions, if they occur. If/when such discussions occur, ISAF Petrobras is willing to negotiate a confidentiality agreement with Petrobras to protect against the disclosure of the identity of Foundation members.
NEXT STEPS
If you wish to register your claims with the Foundation, please contact your FRT representative as soon as possible.
For more information on this case or FRT Global Group Litigation service, please contact us at learnmore@frtservices.com.
Learn More
FRT has issued the following alerts to FRT Global Group Litigation clients:
- Update Alert: January 16, 2018
- Full Alert: December 2016
Related Information
- February 2018: Three takeaways from the February 6 decision regarding the Petrobras ($3B) deal
- January 2018: Petrobras: What investors can gain from this case (in addition to the $2.9 billion class action settlement)
- December 2016: Petrobras settles opt-out lawsuits with several funds
- July 2016: Direct litigation actions against Petrobras soar, FRT tells Ignites
About FRT
U.S. CLAIMS I GLOBAL GROUP LITIGATION I ANTITRUST I LITIGATION MONITORING I BUYOUTS
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