The case was filed by San Luis Financial & Investment, which owned a controlling stake in Banco Comercial, alongside the individual creditors of another insolvent bank which San Luis had owned shares in, CGN SAIFE, against several former minority shareholders of Banco Comercial: JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Dresdner Lateinamerika.
For the last pending claim of the case, the Court of Appeals definitively concluded on 29 February that San Luis was not deprived of its preemptive rights, and rejected the monetary damages claim. CGN SAIFE creditors attempted twice to obtain clarifications from the Court on the ruling but both motions were dismissed and the decision is now final.
Ferrere Abogados associate Alejandro Pintos says that the case posed challenges as there were no precedents on violation of preemptive rights in Uruguay.
Ferrere Abogados partner Sandra González adds that the lawsuit was made more complex because “we had to litigate against two fronts, San Luis and CGN SAIFE plaintiffs. Both made different sets of arguments and even named different defendants. In the end, this is a very significant victory for the clients and a leading case that clarified the law for future preemptive rights cases. ”
Ferrere Abogados is working on several litigation cases related to the 2002 bankruptcy of Banco Comercial. In October last year, the firm helped the three foreign banks win a case brought against them by a former Banco Comercial bondholder.