Banco Safra is taking Americanas to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
The financial institution wants the São Paulo courts to be the competent forum for judging the case.
247 - Banco Safra has filed a lawsuit with the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) to overturn decisions by the Rio de Janeiro courts that benefit Lojas Americanas. The financial institution wants the São Paulo courts to be the competent forum for judging the case.
In the lawsuit filed with the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), reported by CNN journalist Caio Junqueira, Safra Bank alleges that it was contacted by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) to pay a guarantee resulting from a debt of R$ 399 million owed by Americanas. In January, the bank debited Americanas' current account up to the limit of the available balance, which totaled R$ 96,9 million.
"After that, however, the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro, where the judicial reorganization is being processed, suspended this operation. Safra then obtained a decision from the Court of Justice of São Paulo ordering the restitution of the amount. The ruling is directly contrary to the decision of the Rio de Janeiro court. Therefore, the bank asked the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) to recognize the São Paulo court as competent for the case and to annul the decision of the Rio de Janeiro court," reports the journalist.
Americanas is experiencing a crisis after revealing accounting inconsistencies of approximately 20 billion reais in January, which led it to file for bankruptcy protection with over 40 billion reais in debt. The case has had legal repercussions and is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM).
According to the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, BNDES has already executed the guarantees related to Americanas' debts. At the end of January, the bank said it had collected bank guarantees from the retailer in two operations totaling 2,4 billion reais, of which, at the time, the development bank had already released 1,17 billion reais.