Brazilian
securities regulator CVM has opened two probes into Vale Chief Financial
Officer Luciano Siani’s conduct in the aftermath of a dam burst in late
January that killed nearly 250 people, according to the CVM’s website.
Details
of the investigations were not immediately available. Brazilian newspaper
Valor Economico said at issue was Siani’s alleged failure to “fully
and immediately” disclose information about the accident.
Valor
reported that Siani has informed the regulator he plans to settle the
cases, without giving details of a potential accord.
The
CVM probes are the latest in a series of investigations by prosecutors and
regulators into the circumstances surrounding the disaster, which happened
less than four years after another deadly dam collapse in the same region.
One
of the cases involved Vale’s failure to issue a statement before a news
conference the company held on Feb. 12 that made some key disclosures
surrounding the potential cause of the dam burst, Valor reported.
In
the second case, Vale allegedly disclosed internally that it was partially
halting activities at its Brucutu mine but failed to tell investors about
the move until two days later, after reports of the closure had already
pushed down shares, according to Valor.
A
Vale spokeswoman declined to comment on the probes, saying its defenses to
the charges were in the text of the probes themselves. The company did not
immediately make Siani available for comment.
According
to Valor, Vale in the first case said most of the points made during the
press conference had previously been disclosed. In the second case,
Siani’s defense said that only a select group of Vale employees were
told about the Brucutu halt and that the company moved toward a wider
disclosure as soon as it became clear that the information had been
leaked.
Source:
Reuters
|