A Dutch court has entered a significant ruling in one of the long-running efforts by Petrobras investors to recover damages following the company’s bribery scandal. The Petrobras U.S. securities class action lawsuit settled in 2018 for $3 billion. Investors who purchased their Petrobras shares outside the U.S. were not part of that settlement, and these investors have pursued claims elsewhere, including in the Netherlands, where an action filed by a Foundation acting on behalf of a group of investors is pending. In a ruling last week, the District Court of Rotterdam rejected the Foundation’s claims under Brazilian and Argentinian law. The Court also ruled on bondholders’ claims under Luxembourg and Dutch law, as discussed below. The court’s judgment is subject to appeal. Petrobras’s October 30, 2024, filing with the SEC on Form 6-K describing the court’s judgment can be found here.Continue Reading Court Rules on Petrobras Investors’ Claims in Dutch Collective Action

In a milestone development in the long-running Dutch collective investor action brought against Petrobras and related entities, a Netherlands court has ruled on the merits in favor of the Foundation bringing the action on behalf of investors, holding that Petrobras harmed investors by publishing misleading financial information. Though the case is not done – the Court will next consider certain legal issues pertaining to the investors’ claimed damages – the Court’s recent ruling is an important step in this significant and high-profile case. An English translation of the Court’s July 26, 2023, judgment can be found here. The July 26, 2023, press release of the International Securities Association & Foundations Management Company, the administrator of the Foundation brining the action, which summarizes the rulings in the Court’s judgment, can be found here.Continue Reading Dutch Court Enters Interim Merits Judgment in Favor of Petrobras Investors

A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a collective investor action against Petrobras and related entities pending in the court can go forward, notwithstanding the arbitration clause in Petrobras’s articles of association. The defendants had sought to argue that because of the arbitration clause the foundation that was pursuing the Dutch action on behalf of investors had no standing to pursue the claims. The Dutch court’s May 26, 2021 ruling rejecting the defendants’ argument will now permit the action to go forward. A copy of Petrobras’s May 27, 2021 press release about the court’s ruling can be found here. A June 3, 2021 Law360 article about the Dutch court’s ruling can be found here.
Continue Reading Dutch Court Rules Petrobras Collective Investor Action May Proceed