Corp-Ethics.com - Report: Judge dismisses Parmalat US trial

Company	Parmalat [Company Info]
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Date	Issue	Title
26th Jul 2007	Other Issue	Judge dismisses Parmalat US trial

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A US federal judge has ruled that two banks and two auditors will not need to face charges over the collapse of Italian dairy firm Parmalat in 2003.

US district judge Lewis Kaplan said much or all of the alleged improper conduct took place outside of the US.

Citigroup, Bank of America, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton will now not need to face charges, he said.

Parmalat was Europe's biggest bankruptcy, and investors have taken legal action to get their money back.

Earlier this week, an Italian judge ruled that Parmalat's founder, Calisto Tanzi, and other former executives should face trial.

Parmalat collapsed with a 14bn-euro ($18.6bn; £9.4bn) hole in its accounts and a number of international firms and banks were caught up in the legal storm that followed.

Judge Kaplan ruled that the charges against Citigroup, Bank of America, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton were not covered by US securities law.

"Where the United States activities are merely preparatory or take the form of culpable nonfeasance and are relatively small in comparison to those abroad, the securities laws do not apply," he said.

However, he added that the ruling would not block US buyers of Parmalat securities from going through US courts.

A lawyer for the investors trying to recoup their losses said: "Obviously, we're disappointed with the judge's ruling."

Mark Willis of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll said the investors, many of whom were European, may launch an appeal or turn to European courts.

Other Reports on Parmalat
Date	Issue	Company	Report
3rd Jul 2007	Other Issue	Parmalat	Parmalat to face US group lawsuit
31st Mar 2006	Other Issue	Parmalat	Bank of America to sue Parmalat
6th May 2004	Fraud Investigation	Parmalat	Police raid Capitalia offices in Parmalat probes
27th Jan 2004	Fraud Investigation	Parmalat	Audit states debt now 14.3 Billion Euros
29th Dec 2003	Fraud Investigation	Parmalat	Parmalat admits $4.9bn black hole

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