APBR (ord) APBRA (pref) Petrobras Brasil

[Gaston89]

(BN) Petrobras Said to Reconvene in Executive Dismissal Standoff
(2)

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Petrobras Said to Reconvene in Executive Dismissal Standoff (2)
2014-11-03 17:59:37.242 GMT


(Updates with comments from former SEC official starting in 16th paragraph.)

By Sabrina Valle
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s board will resume talks tomorrow over a demand from the oil producer’s auditor to remove a top executive cited in a corruption investigation, said two people with knowledge of the issue.
Petrobras, as the state-run company is known, suspended an Oct. 31 meeting without reaching a decision on whether to dismiss Sergio Machado as head of transport unit Transpetro after PricewaterhouseCoopers refused to sign off on quarterly results bearing his signature, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter isn’t public. Some directors were reluctant to oust Machado on concern it would cause friction in President Dilma Rousseff’s ruling coalition, they said.
The Rio de Janeiro-based producer is at the center of a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering and bribery investigation that has put Rousseff, who was Petrobras chairwoman from 2003 to 2010, on the defensive. It was a major theme in last month’s elections that Rousseff won by a small margin.
Machado has denied any irregularities and says the accusations are absurd, Transpetro said in an e-mailed response from its press department. Machado has no knowledge about discussions at Petrobras’s board meeting or any recommendations from PwC, according to the response. Petrobras and PwC didn’t respond to phone calls and e-mails requesting comment after normal business hours. Rousseff’s press office directed all questions to Petrobras when contacted by phone.
Shares fell 1.5 percent to 15.05 reais at 10:26 a.m. in Sao Paulo. The stock rallied 6.7 percent on Oct. 31 amid speculation the board would approve a fuel-price increase.

Video Testimony

Petrobras, which delayed the release of its earnings without explaining why, suspended the Oct. 31 meeting without discussing a possible fuel price increase that investors were hoping for, one of the people said.
The former head of refining Paulo Roberto Costa, who’s under house arrest under a plea bargain deal with prosecutors, said in videotaped testimony he received 500,000 reais
($202,000) from Machado, the only Petrobras executive cited by Costa for alleged bribing who still works at the company.
A majority of the 10-member board favored dismissing Machado to guarantee compliance with PwC’s requirements, while others voiced concern that firing a former senator and ally of Senate President Renan Calheiros, the people said. Executives at the meeting said Machado has refused to step down on his own, the people said.
Calheiros’s office didn’t answer phone calls or respond to e-mails sent over the weekend. Transpetro declined to comment on Machado’s political ties in an e-mailed response.

Political Alliance

Machado, who was first elected to the senate in 1994, joined Calheiros’s PMDB party in 2001 that became part of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s ruling coalition in 2003, and it remains part of Rousseff’s political alliance. Machado has headed Transpetro since 2003.
PwC alerted Petrobras in written correspondence before the board meeting that it wouldn’t approve Transpetro accounts signed by Machado and urged it to take action, according to the documents reviewed by Bloomberg. PwC said it may need to notify U.S. authorities and cancel the contract with Petrobras that expires at the end of this year, the documents show. PwC may have additional demands before it approves the earnings report, one of the people said.
PwC’s ultimatums highlight how the corruption allegations expose Petrobras to scrutiny in other jurisdictions where its securities trade. It also shows the company is deepening internal investigations to comply with market rules outside of Brazil at the request of third parties.

Congress Testimony

Management is dedicating time to investigate the claims and executives, including Chief Executive Officer Maria das Gracas Foster, have been traveling to Brasilia to testify before congress at a time it is trying to double production from deep- water fields in the Atlantic.
Earlier last month Petrobras hired two law firms to investigate alleged corruption after PwC said it wouldn’t sign off on quarterly results, the people said. PwC told Petrobras it would have to alert U.S. authorities if appropriate action wasn’t taken, the people said. On Oct. 30 PwC said it doesn’t comment on its clients in an e-mailed response.
Petrobras is a “victim” in the investigation and is collaborating with authorities, it said in a Oct. 27 statement.

Management Integrity

Under U.S. regulations, the CEO and CFO must certify accounts, saying they are free from material misstatements, including fraud. Most companies have sub-certifications, in which heads of divisions, units or others would certify that the accounts from the areas that they oversee are correct, said Jason Flemmons, managing director at FTI Consulting Inc. in Washington DC, and the former deputy chief accountant of the Division of Enforcement for the SEC.
“If the auditors believe there is a concern about relying on any certification or representation that could impact the financial statement, they would have to get comfortable with it before they would release the financial statement,” Flemmons said. “This is a management integrity issue at its core.”
When a company or an auditor files a letter to the SEC under section 10a of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, it is routed first to the office of the chief accountant, which then sends out copies both to the SEC’s enforcement division and the division of corporation finance, Flemmons said.
The threshold for an auditor or a company to report the issue to the SEC is whether a violation of the law has or may have occurred, he said, meaning that a violation doesn’t have to be proven before a so-called 10a-letter must be filed.

[Palo y a la bolsa]

Mirá que yo siempre aclaro: "PUEDE FALLAR"
pero esta vez me olvidé...

Igual está muy baja... si la bancás un tiempo difícil que te arrepientas

Me extraña tata, el teorema de tusam esta implicito en este negocio

Meti poquito, para satisfacer el instinto timbero y para esperarla hasta que vuelva a valer lo que debe... estoy dividiendo la cartera en las de corto y largo, aunque con eso cambio de opion todos los dias

[diego0708]

Veo un banderin invertido objetivo compagnucci usd 6

gracias por la data

[Lupo]

Veo un banderin invertido objetivo compagnucci usd 6

[el tata]

Me canse de mirarla de afuera con la ñata contra el vidrio y te hice caso... veremos que resulta

Mirá que yo siempre aclaro: "PUEDE FALLAR"
pero esta vez me olvidé...

Igual está muy baja... si la bancás un tiempo difícil que te arrepientas

[odranoellacoz]

Ya esta todo el merval alcanzando maximos del año.
Quedan un 30% abajo tenaris y esta que bajo un 50%

No hay mucho mas que decir...


Hagan sus apuestas.

[rinkel]

le sigo creyendo al grafico de Valiant de compresion semanal
el rsi y macd...le falta un poquito para salir
puede ser cierto lo que dice:

nico escribió:
Que camino tomará?? Para mi los USD10
no esta a punto todavia para entrarle....tiene que bajar aun...

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=PBR&p= ... 0619253288

[VClicquot]

El domingo hubo en Sao Paulo una manifestacion pidiendo la renuncia de Dilma y no mas PT. Cacerolasos en San Pablo?

Sumá la oposición que voto en contra, más las abstenciones te da un +50% de población en contra de Dilma.

El momento era en las elecciones , el pueblo sabiendo de cada uno de los actos de corrupcion eligio .
Tendran lo que votaron.
Yo como inversor solo pido un rebote para salir corriendo.
El problema es que me parece que somos varios con la misma idea.

[mr_osiris]

mira.. salvo que mañana desaparezcan todos los pozos petroleros de brasil.. va a ser difícil conseguir este pelpa tan BARATO....

Que camino tomará?? Para mi los USD10

[El Brujo]

NUNCA FUE TAN FACIL DECIDIR COMPRAR UNA ACCION. INCREIBLES VALORES PARA GUARDAR Y FUMAR PIPA

[PiConsultora]

Los muchachos siguen entrando y fuerte...
http://m.infomoney.com.br/mercados/noti ... -diz-fonte

[nico]

Que camino tomará?? Para mi los USD10

[yamzeq]

El domingo hubo en Sao Paulo una manifestacion pidiendo la renuncia de Dilma y no mas PT. Cacerolasos en San Pablo?

Sumá la oposición que voto en contra, más las abstenciones te da un +50% de población en contra de Dilma.

[jcVADIM]

El domingo hubo en Sao Paulo una manifestacion pidiendo la renuncia de Dilma y no mas PT. Cacerolasos en San Pablo?

[Palo y a la bolsa]

Te doy mi conclusión: STRONG BUY

Me canse de mirarla de afuera con la ñata contra el vidrio y te hice caso... veremos que resulta