Steven Peikin, Head of S&C’s Securities & Commodities Investigations Practice, contributed an article to the Brazilian publication Consultor Jurídico. The article outlines the Americanas fraud perpetrated by and for the benefit of former senior management who concealed information from the Board of Directors, and discusses the importance of holding responsible parties accountable in frauds where even the highest international corporate governance standards could not be reasonably expected to detect the fraud.
Strong corporate governance practices were in place at Americanas, but “[g]ood corporate governance is only half the battle,” writes Steven. “For the sake of everyone—and especially the thousands of employees of a company like Americanas, and their families, who overnight saw their jobs on the verge of collapse—the lessons of fraud like this should be applied to new rules that make even the most sophisticated fraudsters think twice.”
Read the article: ‘Robust corporate governance is part of the way; the other is severe punishment for those involved.’