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07/04/2009 - Brazilian courts support privatisation
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A federal court in Rio de Janeiro has dismissed a claim against Banco Itaú over loan agreements connected to the privatisation of state-owned Banco Banerj, one of the wave of privatisations carried out in Brazil during the 1990s.
The ruling on 9 March closely follows another judgment in which questions about the validity of the process through which state-telecoms company Telebras was privatised in 1998 were also dismissed.
Alexandre Wald of Itaú’s counsel Wald e Associados Advogados says, “The outcomes of these actions clearly demonstrate a tendency by courts of law to uphold privatisation processes, carried out over a decade ago, and to abide by the legal system, which is indispensible for national development.”
Banerj was privatised in 1997 and split into two parts, one liquidated out of court, and the other acquired by Itaú, with help from loans made by the state of Rio’s federal bank, Caixa Econômica Federal.
CAIXA, supported by the state government, filed a claim against Itaú seeking to cancel loan agreements it entered with Itaú to assist its acquisition, arguing that the agreements were null and void because of irregularities in the transfer of the funds.
The court however ruled that no illegal action had been proven, and that to cancel the loans would be unconstitutional as it would threaten the privatisation process.
Counsel to Banco Itaú
• Wald e Associados Advogados
Partners Arnoldo Wald, Donaldo Armelin, Alexandre de Mendonça Wald and Luiz Fernando Souza Setembrino
Counsel to Caixa Econômica Federal
• In-house counsel - Leonardo Yukio Dutra dos Santos Kataoka and Cíntia de Freitas Gouvêa
Counsel to the State of Rio de Janeiro
• State public attorney - Flávio Müller Pupo
DT
Fonte: LatinLawyer Online
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