Deloitte, Grant Thornton To Settle Parmalat Suit

Deloitte, Grant Thornton To Settle Parmalat Suit - 11/19/2009

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HEADLINES \| SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS \| COURT FILINGS LINKS TO OTHER NEWS \| NEWS ARCHIVE	HEADLINES ARCHIVED SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS ARCHIVED

SETTLEMENT NEWS:

Deloitte, Grant Thornton To Settle Parmalat Suit
Abigail Rubenstein

Securities Law 360. November 19, 2009
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EXCERPT: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton International have agreed to cough up $15 million to settle with a class of Parmalat SpA stockholders in a suit stemming from the Italian dairy giant's collapse. The lead plaintiffs for a certified class of Parmalat stockholders filed a motion asking the court to preliminarily approve the settlement Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The class of securities holders will net $15 million if the settlement is approved by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and its U.S.-based unit Deloitte Touche have agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle allegations of fraud by Italian auditors connected to Parmalat's 2003 spiral into bankruptcy. Grant Thornton International has agreed to a $6.5 million settlement. Asking the court to grant preliminary approval to the settlement for notice to class members and to set a date for a hearing on final approval and a proposed plan of allocation, the plaintiffs stressed that the settlements were the result of months of negotiations between informed parties. “We think it's a noteworthy settlement because the settlement involves the worldwide coordinating organizations — Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton International — who were sued not directly for anything they did, but for audits by their affiliate firms in Italy,” James Sabella of Grant & Eisenhofer PA, lead counsel for the plaintiffs[...] “It's very rare that any settlements have been achieved involving those organizations rather than the actual member firms who practice in the various jurisdictions,” Sabella said. A representative for Deloitte Touche declined to comment on the proposed settlement Thursday because the court has not yet made its final determination. Grant Thornton International could not be reached for comment.

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