Almeida Advogados informs that there will be a residual distribution of funds to investors in Petrobras assets traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), linked to the Petrobras “Class Action” in the US, “In re Petrobras Securities Litigation”.
As everyone knows, in 2018 the Federal Court of the District of New York approved the historic settlement of US$2.95 billion in the Class Action, filed against Petrobras by investors seeking compensation in the face of the devaluation of the company’s shares traded in the NYSE as a result of the scandals revealed by Operation Car Wash.
We now aim to denote that under the terms of the “Cease and Desist Order” (Order) of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which ended the SEC’s public investigation against Petrobras that preceded the Class Action, a “Fair Fund ” was created to distribute the amount of the fine the SEC receives to aggrieved investors. Petrobras paid USD 85,320,000 in the Fair Fund, pursuant to the Order.
As per the Fair Fund distribution terms, investors who have submitted the “Petrobras Settlement Fund Proof of Claim” form to the Class Action “Settlement Fund” administrator are automatically considered to receive their Fair Fund pro rata allocation in respect of transactions that have been approved by the Settlement Fund administrator.
Investors who have not submitted the Petrobras Settlement Fund Proof of Claim form, or who have submitted it with “deficiencies” that have not been cured, will have the same opportunity to receive their pro rata allocation from the Fair Fund by submitting the “Petrobras Fair Fund Proof of Claim” to the Fair Fund administrator.
Check, below, the rules indicated so that Brazilian shareholders who invested in Petrobras on the NYSE and were harmed are entitled to receive their share of the allocation provided for by the Fair Fund:
Holders of “American Depository Receipts” (ADRs, representing Petrobras securities)[1] and debt securities (“bonds”) traded through the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or under any other “covered transaction”, as defined by the terms of the Class Action Agreement:
Whose shareholding was within the period from January 22, 2010 to July 28, 2015 – the particular Class Period, as defined by the terms of the Class Action agreement.
The deadline to qualify to receive from the Fair Fund ran until February 28, 2022, and the analysis by the Fair Fund administrator to verify the regularity of the documents and qualification requests submitted has already started. Our office follows all the steps of the distribution process before the Fair Fund administrator for our clients already qualified/requesting qualification. We are ready in our direct coordination with the administrator to also assist those interested in this procedure who did not act in a timely manner with eventual requests for extension of the deadline as an exception.
If you are interested in receiving more information, we are at your disposal for further clarification.
Authors: CEO + Founding Partner André de Almeida; partner David Andrew Taylor; partner Rafael Zinato
[1] The “American Depository Share” (ADS) is the share traded on the US stock markets. The ADR to Petrobras ADS ratio (both common and preferred) is 1 to 2 (one ADR is represented by two ADS shares).