Hawaii Pension Will Help Lead Class Action Suit Against Troubled Brazilian Energy Company

The Hawaii Employees Retirement System (ERS) will be the only U.S. plaintiff in a class action lawsuit aimed at a troubled Brazilian energy company, according to a report from KITV.

Petrobras has been under investigation by Brazilian authorities for months in relation to an alleged kickback scheme.

The lawsuit will deal specifically with allegations that the company made omissions and misstatements about its finances to investors.

ERS says it lost $14 million on Petrobras-related investments.

From KITV:

KITV has learned the Employees Retirement System is to be the sole U-S plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against a Brazilian gas and oil company.

[…]

The suit points to misstatements and omissions by the Brazilian energy giant.

The company has been embroiled in a government corruption scandal that has spurred large demonstrations in Brazil.

On Wednesday the ERS board held a special meeting to be briefed on the latest developments.

“This case will be moving fast. The judge handling the case wants to move rapidly. It is a very large and significant case. The loss to the class not just to ERS is in the billions of dollars.” said Deputy Attorney General Brian Aburano.

Aburano believes this may be the largest investment hit for the ERS.

This isn’t the first federal securities anti-fraud case that the ERS has joined in.

The Hawaii pension fund is involved in two other lawsuits involving Metronic and Intuitive Surgical, but for much smaller losses.

The lead plaintiff will be the Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd (USS), a British pension fund.