In my view, the criminal action based on credit deception always had to be a side show in the great Porsche/Volkswagen saga. It was relatively insignificant, given the size of the securities and civil litigation, on which it has no impact, and the fact that the “victim”, BNP Parisbas, did not suffer a damage. Charges were brought nevertheless, and today, Härter was found guilty and sentenced.
Tag: Volkswagen
Porsche Hedge Fund Litigation: New York, Braunschweig – Now It’s Stuttgart Again
We had reported earlier that Porsche had struck a deal with some of the New York hedgde fund claimants to discontinue their US actions. In return, Porsche had agreed not to invoke the statute of limitation if the actions were filed again in Germany. According to press reports, 25 funds, including Viking Global,Tiger Global, Royal Capital, Glenhill Capital and Greenlight Capital have now filed claims in the order of EUR 1.4 billion against Porsche SE.
Porsche and the Volkswagen Take-Over: First Criminal Action Coming To A Close
As previously reported, Holger Härter, Porsche’s CFO at the time of the attempted Volkswagen take-over, is facing criminal charges for his conduct in the transaction. The first trial is coming to a close now. The Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office (Staatsanwaltschaft) accused Härter and members of his finance team of having misrepresented the exposure under the option agreements to BNP Parisbas when they negotiated Porsche’s credit line and hence obtained credit by deception (Kreditbetrug; Sec. 265b German Criminal Code, Strafgesetzbuch). This is a criminal offence, even if the bank did not suffer any credit – merely having put the bank at risk suffices.
Porsche Litigation Update: New York, Stuttgart, Braunschweig – Next Stop Hannover?
In the Porsche securities litigation, where billions are at stake following Porsche’s failed attempt to take over Volkswagen, actions have been brought in courts in New York, London, Stuttgart and Braunschweig. Whereas in New York and Stuttgart, it was so far all about jurisdiction – or the lack of it – Braunschweig has already ruled on the merits of these claims back in September 2012, when it dismissed the first two smaller actions against Porsche. So it came as a bit of a surprise when, in a hearing on April 17, 2013 that dealt with the second wave of bigger cases, the Braunschweig court showed some sympathy for an application made by one of the claimants to move the matter to another court.