Americanas: CVM agreement could reduce signatory sentences – 09/29/2023 – Market

The Administrative Agreement Committee on Supervision Process (CAS) of the CVM (Securities Commission) celebrated this Friday (29) an agreement related to the material fact disclosed by Americanas on January 11 of this year — when the company communicated to the market “accounting inconsistencies” of R$20 billion.

The authority said, in a note, that content obtained through this administrative agreement tends to facilitate and speed up the work of investigating and analyzing the facts involving the retailer.

The CVM may enter into an administrative agreement with the extinction of its punitive action or reduction of the penalty —between one third and two thirds of the penalty— through cooperation in the investigation of facts that result in usefulness for the process.

“CAS considered it convenient and opportune to accept the proposal, taking into account, among other factors, (a) the severity, repercussion and consequences of the infractions for the capital market and Brazilian society; (b) the status of ongoing administrative processes before different technical areas of the CVM; (c) complexity of the topic (eg, the long period of duration of the infractions, the different companies, the numerous participants involved, etc.); (d) the volume of documents and information provided by the Signatories; and (e) the commitment to effective, full and permanent cooperation by the Signatories in clarifying the facts”, says the extract from the agreement released by the CVM.

The authority keeps the content of the agreement, the history of conduct, the identity of the signatories, the related documents and their information confidential until the case is judged.

According to the statement, the purpose of the agreement is to confess and collaborate in the investigation of certain irregularities related to the relevant fact regarding the accounting error disclosed by Americanas.

Since January, the CVM has opened at least 23 Administrative Procedures involving Americanas. Of these, two resulted in Administrative Sanctioning Processes, in which accusations were formulated, two others evolved into Administrative Inquiries and 11 are under analysis.

These agreements can be proposed by individuals or legal entities that confess to violating CVM rules, identify the others involved in the infraction and provide information and documents that prove the occurrence of the infraction.

“If infractions are formally characterized, each of those responsible will be duly held responsible with the application and rigor of the law and to the extent applicable to it. Within the scope of its sphere of competence, the CVM will not tolerate illicit acts that undermine the health and proper functioning of the capital market”, said the CVM in the statement.