Global investor rights law firm Rosen Law Firm announced it is filing a class action lawsuit on the behalf of the purchasers of Samarco’s 10-year notes due in 2022, 2023 and 2024 for damages under securities law.
Samarco is a 50/50 joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton, which halted its operations in November 2015 due to a disaster that killed 19 people. Rosen Law Firm said investors who purchased the notes from October 31, 2012 through November 30, 2015, both dates inclusive, can join the class lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims, among other points, that Samarco made false or misleading statements, failing to disclose that its Fundão tailings dam had “longstanding systemic and structural defects.”
Additionally, the lawsuit says that Samarco “ignored repeated, reliable warnings regarding the condition of the Fundão tailings dam while representing to investors that it had mitigated the risk of a catastrophic accident as much as possible through ‘a combination of risk management, careful evaluation, experience and knowledge.’”
Another point raised by the class lawsuit argues that Samarco’s statements about its business, operations, and prospects were “false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.”
The legal firm said a class lawsuit has “already been filed,” however, investors willing to join the lawsuit can do so it until January 13, 2017.
The lawsuit argued subsequent investigations “revealed” Samarco “disregarded safety concerns” about its Fundão dam “for years.”
“When the truth about Samarco’s operations was revealed by the collapse of the Fundão dam and investigation into its causes, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.”