STJ determines blocking of BRL 1.2 billion from Americanas at BTG – 01/25/2023 – Market

BTG Pactual managed this Wednesday (25th), through an appeal with the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), to maintain the blockade of R$ 1.2 billion deposited by Americanas, due to the debts that the retailer has with the Bank.

The process also involves questioning, by BTG, the competence of the Justice of Rio de Janeiro to deal with the divergence between the parties. In his decision, Minister Og Fernandes, acting president of the STJ, recalls the decision of the 1st Business and Arbitration Court of the Judicial District of São Paulo, favorable to BTG.

Thus, the judge maintained the blocking of the appeals, while the issue of competence to judge the issue will be analyzed by the rapporteur of the appeal, Minister Raul Araújo, of the Second Section.

According to the list of creditors released this Wednesday, Americanas owes BRL 3.5 billion to BTG. The amount of R$ 1.2 billion is invested by Americanas in CDBs and Financial Bills of the bank, as described in the action filed at the STJ.

The legal battle between BTG and Americanas began on January 13, when the retailer obtained an injunction that prevented creditors from collecting debts for a period of 30 days. Soon after, the bank filed a request to block BRL 1.2 billion in deposits made by Americanas.

BTG obtained a writ of mandamus to block the resources on the 18th, which hastened Americanas’ request for judicial recovery, made on the 19th.

From the outset, the bank has questioned the competence of the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro to conduct the process, and has tried to bring the entire legal discussion to São Paulo. The origin of this appeal in the STJ is the 1st instance of the Justice of São Paulo.

According to experts, this questioning is based on the proximity between the lawyers of each of the parties and the judges in each location.

A lawyer specializing in judicial recovery, who spoke privately, says that the offices representing Americanas are in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the company’s headquarters. This is used as an argument to sue the state’s Court of Justice, and the proximity between lawyers and judges even allowed the request for judicial recovery to be accepted on the same day it was made, he says.

At the STJ, the rapporteur for BTG’s appeal was assigned to Minister Raul Araújo, from the Second Section, who began analyzing the case this Wednesday (25).

When contacted, BTG Pactual did not comment on the appeal until the report was published.