Record-Setting Class Action Settlement

The defendant was Petrobras, a Brazil-based issuer of securities on the US market, and the lead plaintiff was Universities Superannuation Scheme, the largest private pension fund in the UK. On Jan 9 the case was settled with an agreement to pay $2.95 billion to shareholders. “Throughout the course of this litigation, plaintiffs achieved important precedents at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Jeremy Lieberman, Co-Managing Partner at Pomerantz LLP, who oversaw the Petrobras litigation. The precedents he cited included the ascertainability requirement during class certification and the utility of event studies for establishing predominance in securities class actions. At issue were billions of dollars in kickbacks, billions of dollars in overstated assets, and a money-laundering scheme that involved former executives of the company, as well as two former presidents of Brazil and roughly one/third of the Brazilian Congress. Upon settling the defendant issued a statement expressly denying liability, and explaining that it was a victim along with its shareholders.