By Haig Simonian in Zurich

When Boris Collardi delivers the 2011 results of Julius Baer on Monday morning, his audience will, for once, not be focused just on the financial performance of Switzerland’s biggest “pure play” private bank.

On Thursday, the same will apply to Credit Suisse, and, on Friday, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). All three are among the 11 banks identified by the US authorities investigating alleged assistance in helping Americans evade tax.

It is a list every Swiss banker wants to avoid. Last week, Wegelin, one of the 11, was formally indicted by the US – the first action of its kind.

Indictment is sometimes seen as a death knell for a company: in Wegelin’s case, its business was preserved only by a shotgun sale the previous week to Raiffeisen, a co-operative bank. Virtually overnight, the operation was renamed Notenstein, while the rump Wegelin, limited to offshore Swiss accounts for US taxpayers, and legal responsibility, remained with Wegelin’s former partners.

Only one bank reporting results this week will not be confronted with such questions. When UBSannounces results on Tuesday, executives will describe US tax matters as a problem of the past.

In February 2009, Switzerland’s biggest bank reached a $780m settlement with the US authorities after admitting employees had helped with tax evasion. Under the deal, and a linked, but separate, civil case requiring Swiss government intervention, the identities of almost 5,000 UBS clients suspected of not having declared their accounts were transferred to the US.

A string of indictments in recent months against current or former Credit Suisse, Baer and Wegelin bankers – as well as the 59-page Wegelin indictment itself – suggest UBS was far from alone in having helped Americans tax evaders.

Most gallingly of all for the US, some Swiss banks allegedly intensified their efforts after mid 2008, when UBS started withdrawing from the business as part of its efforts to placate the US authorities.

The Wegelin indictment, for example, alleges numerous ex-UBS customers (identified only by an alphabetical letter) came to Switzerland to seek alternatives. “The UBS client adviser informed Clients F and G that they must close their UBS accounts and that other US taxpayers with undeclared accounts were transferring funds to other Swiss banks, including Wegelin, the defendant,” notes the indictment.

Alongside Credit Suisse, Baer and ZKB, the US list includes Basler Kantonalbank (BKB), HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary and the Swiss subsidiaries of three Israeli banks.

Quite why any bank thought it safe to accept former UBS clients after the US probe into the latter and amid intense strains in US-Swiss relations is a mystery. Swiss officials privately show some understanding for those active before UBS was exposed, given that US legislation left loopholes for dummy corporate structures that could be created to evade tax.

But the decision to accept business after the UBS settlement is seen as incomprehensible. In the case of BKB, earlier indictments suggest such decisions were taken by managers in a largely independent Zurich office, with headquarters not really understanding the risks.

But in Wegelin’s case, even that excuse may be invalid. The indictment alleges the bank’s partners took a conscious and deliberate decision, believing they were safe, as the bank was small and had no US branches. The indictment argues they saw an opportunity not just to gain business, but also to charge high margins, given their new clients had few alternatives.

It is a decision all the banks involved, as well as the Swiss government which has found itself again unwillingly involved in a row with Washington, now rue.

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I keep hearing people say don’t blame the rating agencies. My first reaction is why not? After due and sober reflection my considered response is why the hell not?
Standard & Poor’s has put the agencies back into the headlines by downgrading a slew of eurozone governments and robbing France of its cherished triple A rating. There is something unsettling about S&P’s eagerness to grab the headlines. A cynic might see the theatrical nature of its pronouncements as a rather vulgar marketing tool. Moody’s and Fitch seem a lot quieter.

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This time, though, S&P had wisdom to impart. Its serried ranks of economists, analysts and financial wizards were offering startling insights. Fiscal retrenchment, they intoned, would not alone repair the public finances of eurozone countries. The weak economies needed growth in order to revive flagging tax revenues. Wow! Who would have thought it? Perhaps S&P is hunting a Nobel Prize.
I suppose it would be unkind to recall at this point that the rating agencies have been in the vanguard of those telling politicians to pile austerity on austerity, and threatening an instant downgrade for anyone that dared even think about Keynes’s paradox of thrift.
S&P, after all, has also offered us a second searing revelation: the threat to sovereign solvency is not simply a reflection of the deficits and debts of individual states. No. There is also a problem of European governance. The process is cumbersome. The 17 eurozone states struggle to take quick, decisive action.
No one who has watched Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and the rest stumble from summit to Brussels summit for the best part of two years could possibly have guessed that the effort to reconcile domestic politics with eurozone economics had thrown up the odd snag. Could they?
I don’t share Mr Sarkozy’s paranoia about Anglo-Saxon conspiracies to insult France and wreck the single currency. Doesn’t Fitch, anyway, have a French connection? French ministers do themselves few favours when they suggest they would be quite happy with a dud rating if only Britain was also relegated. No, the question is why, after their ill-starred role in bringing the financial house down, does anyone still take the agencies even faintly seriously?
Mr Sarkozy is author of his own embarrassment. He treated a triple A rating as an emblem of national virility. His presidency, he is said to have confided, would be “dead” if France were downgraded. All this bestowed on S&P an authority out of all proportion to its worth.
These are the same organisations that stamped triple A on the billions upon billions of junk credit that brought us the financial crash. It must have been coincidental that the banks bundling up this debt were a fast-growing source of business for the agencies. What was it one S&P employee said in a private email when journalists asked awkward questions back in 2007? “We sound like the Nixon White House.” Given what happened next, the former US president might have considered that something of a slur.
While Mr Sarkozy kept a sullen silence, Mario Monti offered a grown-up response to the downgrades. The Italian prime minister said he could scarcely welcome a triple B rating. As for S&P’s diagnosis of Italy’s economic challenges, though, it was no more than a rehash of his own publicly-stated views.
The irony is that on the separate question hanging over the eurozone’s capacity to come up with credible answers to the crisis, S&P may well have got it wrong. Again.
Only a fool would say that the eurozone has found a route out of the sovereign debt minefields. There are plenty of potential explosions ahead, not least the possibility of a disorderly Greek default. But it is striking that in the wake of the downgrades, borrowing rates have fallen slightly. S&P has missed a discernible shift in the political dynamic of the crisis. What seemed a few months ago well beyond the collective will of governments now begins to look at least possible.
Ms Merkel has found political space. Hardline opponents of any bail-out have fought themselves to exhaustion. Berlin is ready to countenance a boost to the firepower of the new European Stability Mechanism. Ms Merkel can never call on the European Central Bank to act as a lender of last resort to governments, but she seems content with the ECB’s strategy of indirect support through the banking system. German officials also talk about changing the political psychology of the crisis by offering light at the end of the austerity tunnel.
This reflects the progress towards a fiscal compact between the 17 eurozone states. Next week’s European Union summit is expected to endorse a new treaty to turn the compact into law. The entrenchment of fiscal rectitude across the eurozone weakens critics who argue Germany is bailing out feckless southern Europeans.
The speed with which Mr Monti has set about reform in Italy has had something of the same effect. Italy now has a serious government with things to say about economic policy. Mr Monti gets a hearing in Berlin. It would be a stretch to say that this adds up yet to the beginning of a virtuous cycle in the politics of the crisis. But governments may be breaking out of the vicious one in which they have been trapped.
As for S&P, perhaps we should not be overly punitive. After all, all the other villains of the crash have got away scot-free. The second thing I keep hearing, though, is that we must still take the agencies seriously because they remain embedded in the global financial system. Shouldn’t we just downgrade them? Junk would do.

When the bankruptcy of Banco Santos was ordered by Justice on September 20, 2005, the expectation of receiving credit for the estate was almost nil. Exactly six years later, the scenario is quite different. Over $1 billion in assets has been recovered and two payments have been made among the creditors, amounting to $ 760.5 million.

Although the debt left by former banker Edemar Cid Ferreira still reach $ 2.5 billion, there is more money to be recovered.  It is in this climate that the second general meeting of creditors of the bank, scheduled for November 23, will occur.

The creditors’ meeting of Banco Santos will be held at the auditorium of the Public Attorney of São Paulo and the official press notice is to be published soon.  At the meeting agenda is a resolution of 1,944 unsecured creditors (no priority in the receipt) on the need for maintenance of the committee of creditors and, if so, the election of a new representative. The current representative, Jorge Queiroz, will leave the post he has held since the beginning of bankruptcy. Creditors will also have to define, at the meeting, which will be the 6 years’ retroactive payment of de Queiroz,  Court of Appeals approved but never defined until today,  and future earnings of the new representative to be elected.

After the meeting, creditors will be presented to the proposal for the creation of a “Receivables Investment Fund (FIDC)” comprised of most legal claims filed by the estate. The idea was conceived in 2009 and since then circulates between groups of creditors, but was never formally presented. Last week, the law firm of Rosman, Penalva, Souza Leon Franco Bar Association, which developed the idea in conjunction with Cadence, filed the proposal to the bankruptcy process.

By the proposed regulation, the Banco Santos FIDC would be comprised of all the legal claims of the estate – which includes both the cash already recovered and in the estate’s bank accounts as well as the claims filed by the estate that still depend on judicial decisions to be effectively collected. The shareholders of the fund would be the creditors, whose number of shares would be equivalent to the nominal value of their claims.

The creation of the FIDC, however, has some obstacles.  The first is its cost. Until now, the cost of recovery claims of the estate corresponds to about 2.6%. According to the regulation proposed by the FIDC, the creditors would pay  $ 2.8 million a year in management and administration fees, excluding the performance fee, which varies with the amount recovered and the recovery time. The other obstacle to the implementation of the FIDC is transferring the values ​​that the estate has in cash reserves. ”These assets are not receivables,” says the public attorney Eronides dos Santos, who accompanies the bankruptcy process. ”That’s impossible,” he says. Contacted by Valor Economico, the attorneys at Rosman, Penalva, Souza Leon Franco lawyers did not return until the close of this edition.

The FIDC is an alternative to supposedly ensure greater agility on the recovery of assets and liquidation of Banco Santos. Today the estate charges in court, in hundreds of cases, amounts owed by customers to the bank involving claims of reciprocity and operations involving non-financial companies of Edemar Cid Ferreira. The portfolio of lawsuits, however, is considered “junk”. In an assessment made by Directa of the $ 3.29 billion charged to borrowers in legal proceedings  and presented in May of last year,  it would be possible to raise only a maximum of $277 million.

Despite the fact that there are numerous processes for recovery stuck in court and with minimal chances of recovery, there are still expectations that the estate will recover substantial amounts. The São Paulo Court of Appeals (TJSP) will soon judge appeals filed against decisions made by bankruptcy judge that applied the principle of substantive consolidation of assets under the bankruptcy of Banco Santos to include some of the other companies controlled by Edemar Cid Ferreira.  If the substantial consolidation is confirmed, companies like Atalanta, Finsec and Cid Collection, will enter the assets of the bankrupt estate, to be auctioned, the real estate and other assets which belong to them. Atalanta, for example, is the owner of the mansion of former banker in the neighborhood of Morumbi. With five floors, an elevator, eight parking spaces and a heliport, the mansion is valued at $ 60 million. Atalanta also owns several other properties well located in the state’s capital.

Another area of ​​asset recovery is the international asset tracing over Edemar Cid Ferreira and firms open for him offshore that is still in progress . The estate was able to get a U.S. court decision to extend the bankruptcy of Banco Santos in that country, which allowed the search for information, documents and bank transfers by former banker abroad. With these initiatives, the estate can find assets that have not yet been located and increase the amount of assets recovered.

Quando a falência do Banco Santos foi decretada pela Justiça, em 20 de setembro de 2005, a expectativa de recebimento de créditos pela massa falida era quase nula. Exatamente seis anos depois, o cenário é bastante diverso. Já foram recuperados mais de R$ 1 bilhão em ativos e realizados dois rateios entre os credores, no valor total de R$ 760,5 milhões.

Embora a dívida deixada pelo ex-banqueiro Edemar Cid Ferreira ainda chegue a R$ 2,5 bilhões, há mais dinheiro a recuperar. E é nesse clima que deve ocorrer a segunda assembleia geral de credores do banco, marcada para o dia 23 de novembro.

A assembleia de credores do Banco Santos será realizada no auditório do Ministério Público de São Paulo e o edital de convocação deve ser publicado em breve. Na pauta da reunião está a deliberação dos 1.944 credores quirografários (sem prioridade no recebimento) sobre a necessidade de manutenção do comitê de credores e, em caso positivo, a eleição de um novo representante. O atual, Jorge Queiroz, deixará o posto que ocupa desde o início da falência. Os credores também terão que definir, na reunião, qual será a remuneração passada de Queiroz, aprovada pela Justiça mas até hoje nunca definida, e a remuneração futura de seu representante.

Após o término da assembleia, será apresentada aos credores a proposta de criação de um fundo de investimentos em direitos creditórios (FIDC) para reunir a carteira de ativos do banco. A ideia foi aventada ainda em 2009 e desde então circula entre grupos de credores, mas nunca havia sido formalmente apresentada. Na semana passada, o escritório de advocacia Rosman, Penalva, Souza Leão, Franco Advogados, que desenvolveu o projeto em conjunto com a gestora Cadence, anexou o documento ao processo falimentar.

Pelo regulamento proposto, o FIDC do Banco Santos reuniria todos os créditos da massa falida – o que inclui tanto os valores já recuperados que ainda estão no caixa da massa quanto os que ainda dependem de decisões judiciais para serem efetivamente cobrados. Os cotistas do fundo seriam os credores, cujo número de cotas equivalerá ao valor nominal de seus créditos.

A criação do FIDC, no entanto, tem alguns entraves. O primeiro deles é o seu custo. Até agora, o custo de recuperação de créditos da massa falida foi de cerca de 2,6%. Pelo regulamento do FIDC, os credores pagariam R$ 2,8 milhões ao ano em taxas de gestão e administração, sem incluir a taxa de performance do fundo, que varia conforme o valor recuperado e o tempo de recuperação. O outro empecilho à implementação do FIDC é a transferência dos valores que a massa falida tem em caixa ao fundo. “Esses bens não são direitos creditórios”, diz o promotor Eronides dos Santos, que acompanha o processo falimentar. “Isso é inviável”, afirma. Procurados pelo Valor, os advogados do Rosman, Penalva, Souza Leão, Franco Advogados não retornaram até o fechamento desta edição.

O FIDC surge como uma alternativa para garantir maior agilidade à cobrança dos créditos e à liquidação dos ativos do Banco Santos. Hoje a massa falida cobra na Justiça, em centenas de processos, valores devidos por clientes ao banco que envolvem indenizações e operações de reciprocidade envolvendo empresas não-financeiras de Edemar Cid Ferreira. A carteira de ações judiciais, no entanto, é considerada podre. Em uma avaliação realizada pela Directa e apresentada em maio do ano passado, dos R$ 3,29 bilhões cobrados dos devedores em processos judiciais, seria possível arrecadar apenas R$ 277,68 milhões.

Ainda que existam inúmeros processos de cobrança de créditos emperrados na Justiça e com chances mínimas de recuperação, ainda há expectativas de que a massa falida recupere valores significativos. O Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo (TJSP) deve julgar em breve recursos contra decisões da primeira instância que determinaram a extensão da falência do Banco Santos a algumas das demais empresas de Edemar Cid Ferreira. Se a extensão for confirmada às empresas Atalanta, Finsec e Cid Collection, entrarão no patrimônio da massa falida, para serem leiloados, os imóveis e demais bens em nome delas. A Atalanta, por exemplo, é a proprietária da mansão do ex-banqueiro no bairro do Morumbi. Com cinco andares, um elevador, oito vagas de garagem e heliponto, a mansão está avaliada em R$ 60 milhões. A Atalanta também é proprietária de diversos outros imóveis bem localizados na capital paulista.

Outra frente de recuperação de ativos aberta é a busca de ativos de Edemar Cid Ferreira e das empresas abertas por ele no exterior, ainda em andamento. A massa falida conseguiu que a Justiça dos Estados Unidos determinasse a extensão da falência do Banco Santos naquele país, o que permitiu a busca de informações, documentos e movimentações bancárias feitas pelo ex-banqueiro no exterior. Com isso, será possível encontrar ativos que ainda não foram localizados e incrementar a arrecadação da massa falida.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation – the Macintosh – a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could haveever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help memake the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, allfear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving onlywhat is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this wasalmost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A lei de falências e recuperações judiciais, agora em vigor, assimilou, da legislação americana, o “cram down”, vale dizer, o mecanismo pelo qual, mediante a deliberação da maioria dos credores, aqueles que não aprovarem o plano de recuperação judicial devem, necessariamente, conformar-se com ele, a despeito de manifestação de vontade em sentido contrário.

Admite-se, até mesmo, que essa técnica corresponda a princípios saudáveis de preocupação com a manutenção das empresas, dada a sua relevância social e econômica para o país.

Na prática, entretanto, está ocorrendo perversão do princípio, na medida em que tem sido utilizado como mecanismo de compra de apoio da maioria, em detrimento da minoria, o que caracteriza uma “unfair discrimination” que o legislador, certamente, repudiaria, se tivesse conhecimento prévio dessa prática, que colide, frontalmente, com o princípio da igualdade entre os credores.

E a perversão consiste, rusticamente, no seguinte:

A recuperanda apresenta um plano de recuperação judicial, sem base de sustentação entre os credores, como, por exemplo, o que preveja desconto de 40% do crédito, pagamento em vinte e cinco anos, com correção monetária pelo INPC, com uma carência de dois anos para início dos pagamentos.

Na data designada para a assembleia – que monumental erro do legislador foi o de admitir que as assembleias fossem feitas na comarca correspondente ao domicílio da devedora, que pode ser em cidades distantes, submetidas à influência política do devedor, o que torna, no mínimo, perigosa a presença do credor e de seus advogados – sentam-se os devedores, diante dos credores, indagando deles o que querem para aprovação do plano.

A recuperanda curva-se, diante de cada uma dessas vontades, satisfazendo-as: com um, faz acordo para receber em dois anos, com carência de dois meses, mediante pagamento de juros de 1% ao mês, mais taxa referencial; com outro, para receber em quatro anos, com carência de três meses, mediante pagamento de juros de 0,5% ao mês, além de correção pelo INPC; e, assim, sucessivamente, até chegar-se à metade mais um dos votos dos credores, em, pelo menos, duas classes de credores e 1/3 dos credores, na terceira classe, preenchendo-se, destarte, os requisitos do artigo 58 do texto legal.

Alcançado esse número, a recuperanda deixa de celebrar acordo com os demais credores, que ficam, então, condenados à vala comum do precário plano de recuperação geral, inicialmente submetido à assembleia.

Estes últimos credores, dessa forma, ficam prejudicados, pois, diante da posição favorável dos demais credores, na proporção exigida pelo artigo 58 do texto legal, o juiz poderá conceder a recuperação judicial à recuperanda, muito embora tenham sido objeto de “unfair discrimination”, sendo submetidos, sem mais nem menos, ao rigor do “cram down”.

É óbvia a “compra’ dos votos assembleares, mediante a concessão de favores ao número de credores necessários para assegurar a aprovação do plano modificado em assembleia!

Dir-se-ia que esse mecanismo, sem dúvida perverso, seria obstado pela aplicação da regra do parágrafo segundo do artigo 58 do texto legal, segundo a qual a recuperação judicial somente será concedida se o plano não implicar tratamento diferenciado entre os credores da classe que o houver rejeitado.

A verdade, porém, é que essa regra somente é evocável se houver, na terceira classe, rejeição do plano de recuperação, com aprovação de, tão somente, um terço.

Se, ao contrário, houver aprovação do plano de recuperação judicial, nas três classes, não será possível aplicá-la.

É, com efeito, difícil identificar, na jurisprudência de nossos tribunais, aí incluído o paulista, casos em que essa regra tenha sido evocada, como neutralizadora da ação nefasta da compra dos votos assembleares, pela via da celebração de acordos individuais com cada um dos credores de cada classe.

Cabe, dessa forma, aos julgadores, a função de atentarem para o princípio da “pars conditio creditorum”, de forma a evitarem que credores da mesma classe – muitas vezes a pretexto de que continuariam a financiar as atividades da recuperanda – possam ser tratados de forma diferente, com privilégios concedidos à maioria do artigo 58 do texto legal.

De contrário, o mecanismo perverso produzirá as suas piores consequências, deixando ao desabrigo o interesse dos credores que, embora minoritários, não podem deixar de ver reconhecidos os seus direitos, em face dos demais concorrentes.

__________

*Luiz Fernando Höfling é advogado do escritório Höfling, Thomazinho Advocacia

A começar pela inobservância do principio da celeridade, que tem levado muitas empresas a quebra. Em seguida temos os credores que deveriam ser os principais protagonistas, órgão máximo nos processos recuperatórios e falimentares, através da Assembléia e do Comitê de Credores que na pratica tiveram seus poderes restritos. Além disso existem ainda uma série de obstáculos de natureza processual que dá espaço para que os casos tornem-se lentos, prejudicando o bom andamento dos mesmos. Assistimos estes fatos em inúmeros casos como Varig, Variglog, Vasp, Frigorífico Independência, Frigorífico Arantes, Frigorífico Quatro Marcos e Banco Santos.

O pioneiro caso Varig foi um verdadeiro fiasco. A recuperanda não foi recuperada, vez que da forma estruturada era totalmente inviável, sendo os trabalhadores os maiores prejudicados, além de ver seu fundo Aerus virar pó. A Variglog inicialmente saudável enveredou por um imbróglio jurídico entre a americana Matlin Petterson e seus sócios brasileiros perdendo substancialmente seu valor, adentrando em situação de insolvabilidade.

O caso Banco Santos, que sofreu intervenção do Banco Central em novembro de 2004, tendo a falência decretada em 2005, mostra sinais de tornar-se um caso controvertido e com problemas, a despeito de seu relativo bom andamento até o presente. Vem sendo bem conduzido pela massa com recuperação da ordem de R$ 1 bilhão e realização de dois rateios entre credores de cerca de 28%. Em contrapartida sofre com a morosidade gerada pelas usuais medidas protelatórias, erros causados por parcela de credores e falido, tumultos processuais, atrasos inexplicáveis por parte do judiciário. A título de exemplo podemos citar um tema simples que não envolve qualquer decisão ou sentença: o pedido de assembléia de credores solicitada em novembro de 2010, aprovada pelo juízo quatro meses depois em março de 2011, com parecer do ministério público lavrado quatro meses em seguida em julho de 2011 e aguardando ainda definição da data de realização pelo juízo – ou seja, quase um ano se passou, e a mera definição de uma data para a assembléia de credores não foi ainda estabelecida. Fato que causa danos aos credores justo por quem tem o dever de protegê-los de maiores perdas e ajudá-los na otimização de recuperação de ativos , o juízo.

Como possui vultoso caixa da ordem de R$300 milhões e mais algumas centenas de milhões em valiosos ativos a serem realizados surgiu no horizonte há alguns anos a idéia de criação de “vulture fund” (fundo abutre), um “fundo privado” denominado Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios, quando a massa possui apenas carteira de contencioso.  A iniciativa conta com o apoio do Ministério Público estadual e aparentemente serão realizadas audiências públicas sobre a possível criação do “fundo”.  Abdicar da tutela do judiciário onde, apesar de suas imperfeições tem gerado bons resultados, segurança e transparência e passar à tutela privada constitui fator de alto risco aos credores. O histórico desses “fundos” em falências não é nada animador para os credores que ao final das contas nada recebem. Como exemplo típico temos o famoso caso Comind.

O falido por seu lado, apesar de condenado a 21 anos de reclusão, recorre em liberdade com o processo criminal praticamente parado no TRF. Além disso, gasta milhões supostamente de recursos desviados ao exterior, como amplamente noticiado sem que as autoridades competentes nada façam.

Existem ainda os muitos casos de recuperação como os de diferentes frigoríficos de grande porte que praticamente fracassaram.
Constatamos que as empresas em geral padecem do mesmo erro que sempre as levaram a bancarrota, ou seja, entrarem com pedido de recuperação quando já é tarde demais.

Marco Mazzilli – Gestor de Investimentos e Riscos – NYC

FALÊNCIA: COMITÊ DE CREDORES DO BANCO SANTOS FEZ PEDIDO PARA QUE O MP INVESTIGUE A ORIGEM DO DINHEIRO GASTO

Credores querem rastrear renda de Edemar

O ex-controlador do Banco Santos, Edemar Cid Ferreira, diz que suas contas bancárias e bens estão bloqueados e que depende da ajuda de amigos para viver

O Comitê de Credores do Banco Santos protocolou na Justiça um pedido para que o Ministério Público investigue a origem do dinheiro gasto nos últimos seis anos por Edemar Cid Ferreira, ex-controlador da instituição. Em 2005, quando a falência do banco foi decretada, todos os bens do ex-banqueiro foram bloqueados, incluindo contas bancárias, imóveis e obras de arte. No entanto, segundo a denúncia do comitê, Edemar Cid Ferreira vive “nababescamente como se nada tivesse acontecido”.
O pedido do Comitê de Credores baseia-se em documentos encontrados na casa de Edemar Cid Ferreira após seu despejo, no início deste ano. A mansão, localizada no Morumbi, bairro nobre da capital paulista, é hoje administrada pela massa falida do Banco Santos, que arrecadou no local livros contábeis de algumas das empresas do ex-banqueiro, informações sobre a movimentação de caixa de seu escritório, instalado na própria residência, e relatórios de despesas da família nos meses que antecederam o despejo (leia matéria abaixo).

De acordo com esses documentos, o gasto de Edemar Cid Ferreira entre os meses de junho de 2010 e janeiro deste ano oscilou entre R$ 54,8 mil e R$ 239,3 mil mensais. A maior parte das despesas refere-se ao pagamento de salários de funcionários da mansão – incluindo um salário mensal de R$ 30 mil pago à esposa do ex-banqueiro, Márcia de Maria Costa Cid Ferreira -, material de escritório e manutenção da casa. Somente a conta de luz da mansão – com cinco andares, um elevador, duas piscinas, heliponto e um jardim suspenso – chegou a somar R$ 16.114,15 em dezembro do ano passado. Já o plano de saúde do ex-controlador do Banco Santos, segundo os documentos, custava a ele mais de R$ 9 mil mensais. Os registros de gastos ainda incluem pagamentos realizados a diversos advogados, tradutores juramentados e serviços de táxi e de motoboy. A média de gastos nos últimos meses em que Edemar viveu na mansão foi de R$ 163,6 mil ao mês.

Segundo a petição protocolada na 2ª Vara de Falências da capital paulista, onde tramita o processo falimentar do Banco Santos, os credores estão “extremamente revoltados com a desfaçatez” demonstrada pelo ex-banqueiro, que estaria “fazendo pouco da sociedade, dos credores e das autoridades monetárias, da Fazenda e da Justiça”. O comitê pede que o Ministério Público tome medidas para identificar a procedência dos “milhões de reais que vem sendo gastos em espécie (por Edemar) há tanto tempo” e que acione autoridades da Fazenda, como o Banco Central, a Receita Federal e o Conselho de Controle de Atividades Financeiras (Coaf), e da Justiça, como a Polícia Federal.

Despesa de R$ 163 mil mensais, em média, foi descoberta na mansão do ex-banqueiro após o despejo da família

A desconfiança dos credores é de que Edemar Cid Ferreira tenha bens ou contas bancárias no exterior não rastreados no processo de falência e na ação criminal em curso na Justiça Federal – na qual o ex-banqueiro foi condenado em primeira instância a 21 anos de prisão por crimes contra o sistema financeiro, lavagem de dinheiro e formação de quadrilha e da qual aguarda o julgamento da apelação pelo Tribunal Regional Federal (TRF) da 3ª Região. Segundo o Comitê de Credores, o dinheiro gasto pelo ex-controlador do Banco Santos nos últimos anos estaria vindo dessas contas, por meio de operações de dólar-cabo, ou da venda de bens que não teriam sido encontrados durante as investigações feitas no âmbito do processo penal.

De acordo com Jorge Queiroz, presidente do Comitê de Credores do Banco Santos, a identificação da origem desses valores seria uma espécie de rastreamento dos recursos desviados do Banco Santos pela via inversa. Isso porque a massa falida da instituição ainda tenta encontrar contas bancárias e bens de Edemar Cid Ferreira no exterior por meio de escritórios especializados na recuperação de ativos desviados para outros países. “É preciso buscar bens lá fora mas também por aqui, fazendo o caminho inverso”, diz Queiroz.

Os procedimentos de busca de bens e valores supostamente mantidos por Edemar no exterior estão sendo realizados desde o fim do ano passado pelo escritório americano Astigarraga Davis, especializado em recuperação de ativos desviados de empresas e países e contratado pela massa falida do Banco Santos. Para viabilizar a busca, o escritório conseguiu, na Justiça dos Estados Unidos, a extensão da falência do banco no país, o que permitiu que fossem encaminhados a diversos bancos pedidos de informação sobre contas e movimentações bancárias de Edemar e das 60 empresas não-financeiras abertas por ele e por seus familiares em vários países. Outros pedidos de extensão de falência já foram feitos e concedidos em outros países. Agora a massa falida e seus advogados estão recebendo as informações dos bancos. O administrador judicial do Banco Santos, Vânio Aguiar, afirma que a busca por ativos no exterior corre em segredo de justiça e, por isso, não pode revelar qualquer informação sobre as investigações. Mas diz que, se for o caso, elas começarão a dar frutos daqui a seis meses. “É um novelo de lã que não se sabe onde vai parar”, afirma.

Fontes que acompanham o caso do Banco Santos afirmam que há diferentes versões para a origem dos recursos despendidos por Edemar Cid Ferreira nos últimos anos. Uma corrente acredita que ele teria vendido sua valiosa adega, enquanto outra crê que ele tenha se desfeito de obras de arte no exterior. E há os que apostam na possibilidade de haver contas bancárias no exterior até hoje não descobertas. Ao Valor, o ex-banqueiro disse que vive da ajuda de amigos, já que desde a intervenção em seu banco ele e sua esposa estão com os bens bloqueados e não podem ter contas bancárias. “Não posso nem trabalhar, porque se receber algum dinheiro ele é imediatamente bloqueado”, diz.

O promotor que acompanha o processo de falência do Banco Santos, Eronides dos Santos, do Ministério Público de São Paulo, afirma que ainda não tomou conhecimento do pedido do Comitê de Credores. Ele diz, no entanto, que, a depender de seu teor, pedirá diligências no âmbito da ação civil pública aberta para apurar a responsabilidade de Edemar Cid Ferreira na falência do banco. “A ação civil pública é a garantia dos credores de que, se os bens da massa falida forem insuficientes para pagar o total das dívidas, o patrimônio do ex-banqueiro responde subsidiariamente por elas”, diz o promotor.

TJ NEGA A EX-BANQUEIRO SUSPENSÃO DE PROCESSO

Termina na segunda-feira o prazo para que o ex-banqueiro Edemar Cid Ferreira conteste uma perícia feita em quatro de suas empresas não-financeiras na tentativa de evitar a extensão da falência do Banco Santos a elas. O ex-controlador da instituição pediu ao Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo (TJSP) a suspensão do processo, com o argumento de que todos os documentos necessários à contestação foram apreendidos pela massa falida do Banco Santos. O relator do processo no tribunal, no entanto, negou o pedido.

De acordo com Edemar Cid Ferreira, todos os documentos, tanto os arquivados em seus computadores quanto os físicos, foram apreendidos após seu despejo da mansão onde morava, em janeiro deste ano, e até hoje não foram devolvidos. “Estamos sem material para contestar a perícia”, diz. Ontem à tarde o ex-banqueiro se reuniu com seus advogados para decidir como se manifestará no processo – um recurso impetrado por ele para contestar a extensão da falência do Banco Santos às empresas Atalanta Participações e Propriedades, Hyles Participações, Cid Collection Empreendimentos Artísticos e Maremar Empreendimentos e Participações, das quais é sócio com sua esposa, Márcia de Maria da Costa Cid Ferreira.

A perícia foi determinada pelo TJ em 2008 e concluída no início deste ano. Com a avaliação, a Câmara de Falências do tribunal poderá julgar a apelação de Edemar contra a decisão da primeira instância da Justiça, que acolheu o pedido da massa falida do Banco Santos e determinou a falência das empresas. O TJ manteve a decisão, mas negou o pedido de alienação dos bens das companhias até o término do processo. Se a extensão da falência for mantida definitivamente, a massa falida poderá arrecadar a mansão de Edemar e diversos imóveis registrados em nome das quatro empresas. (CP)

Special thanks to:
Renata de Almeida Lutke

The Brazilian Bankruptcy Law of 2005 (“BBL”) establishes three major mechanisms that may apply to troubled businesses: (i) bankruptcy as forced liquidation, (ii) in-court reorganization, and (iii) out-of-court reorganization.

For the purpose of the present paper, we will analyze how the BBL treats the sale of business operations more specifically when such operations are subject to in-court reorganization and liquidation and to demonstrate that it provides legal uncontested title and safety to the buyer in addition to representing a good mechanism to both buyer and seller in the pursue of their interests.

1) IN-COURT REORGANIZATION

Article 47 of the BBL defines that the purpose of the in-court reorganization is to make the overcoming of the economic and financial crisis of the debtor feasible, allowing the maintenance of the going concern, respective jobs and creditors’ interests, promoting the preservation of the business, its social-economic role and the stimulation of the economic development in the country.

In the BBL, it is possible to see direct or indirect references to the sale or assignment of the company under reorganization of assets.

Article 50 of the BBL, for example, provides a number of different mechanisms that can be used to reorganize a company, which includes the complete sale of the going concern, partial sale of the company’s assets, changes in shareholdings, among others; it expressly authorizes the partial or complete sale of a business operation of the debtor if the sale is provided for in the reorganization plan, duly approved by the company’s creditors.

In other words, the BBL gives the parties the possibility of making the reorganization plan feasible, leaving to the Court the duty of authorizing the “agreement” in a reorganization plan settled between debtor and creditors according to the applicable laws.

Such provision is also ratified by article 60 of the BBL, that establishes the sale of branches or operating units if provided under the reorganization plan, and article 66 establishes that after the in-court reorganization plea is filed by the debtor, it cannot sell or encumber assets or rights from its fixed assets in addition to the ones already provided in the reorganization plan, unless express plain and clear need is recognized by the Court.

In Brazil, the partial sale of assets – a manufacturing plant and operating units (jointly referred to as “general assets”) – is a common solution used by debtors during in-court reorganization in order to raise their capital needs to maintain their operations or pay some strategic creditors, such as employees , essential vendors , etc.

The sale details as well as which assets it shall be comprised of, are usually part of the reorganization plan, dully approved by the creditors. It includes:

(i) the procedures that can be adopted by the debtor to sell the asset(s), manufacturing plant(s) or business unit(s);

(ii) how the proceeds from the sale are going to be used by the debtor (which creditors will be paid, the percentage that will be distributed among creditors, the percentage that will be used by the debtor as working capital, etc);

(iii) the requirements to sell a manufacturing plant, business unit or the company’s control or ownership, etc.

It is also common under BBL that creditors help the company in arranging an interested buyer to one or more of the debtor’s establishments or operating units.

In some of the largest in-court reorganization proceedings in Brazil, the financial institutions, which most times hold collateral against the debtor, such as pledges, mortgages, fiduciary property of assets etc., do participate in the sale of a certain establishment or operating unit of the debtor over which they hold collateral.

The main reason for creditor’s involvement, besides the usual large sum of their credits, which makes them a strategic creditor with strong voting powers, is that any sale of assets or establishments that constitutes collateral to a creditor must be expressly approved by such creditor, as provided under article 50, paragraph 1 of the BBL.

The sales of the debtor’s general assets can be performed directly between the debtor and the buyer, under the Creditors Committee supervision or, if inexistent, the Judicial Administrator; it can also be sold through a public auction by the Court, or in any other form that is not forbidden by law, as long as it is dully provided under the reorganization plan. The sale, however, must be made at market value of the asset / establishment, with previous valuation by an expert appraiser, as agreed in advance by creditors and debtor.

It is worth to point out that, if an operating unit is sold through a public auction, the asset will be free from any encumbrance and the purchaser will not succeed the debtor in its obligations, including the tax liabilities, as provided under article 60, sole paragraph of the BBL.

Despite not expressly provided under the law, the Brazilian Courts have understood that there is also no succession over the labor claims. Such succession exemption is one of the strongest and most important aspects of the BBL, as it allows for the continuation of the business activity of the respective operating unit by the buyer free and clear of any burden, in observance to the legal principles of the maintenance of the going concern and jobs, as established in article 47 of the BBL.

However, if the sale occurs through a private agreement between the debtor as a seller and a third party buyer, the buyer may succeed in the labor and tax liabilities; at least the ones related to the specific operating unit acquired.

In any of those cases, though, the collateral that once was attached to the asset is no longer applicable.

It is important to emphasize that under BBL’s provisions of in-court reorganization, a sale of the debtor’s going concern business in its totality will not exempt the buyer from succession; BBL provides that only sales of part of the company’s assets, establishments or operating units shall be exempt of succession; it provides that only under liquidation (USC §363 sale equivalent) of the company, buyer is totally exempt of succession.

Nonetheless, a few debtors claim that the BBL does not define the meaning and the extent of what it called an “operating unit”. It can represent quite a risky adventure and even characterize misuse of the regulation, violating the principle of substance over form.

In fact, there have been a few cases in Brazil where debtors under in-court reorganization, according to the reorganization plan, constitute a new separate operating unit (NEWCO) to which it transfers its most important assets, or the majority of its operating business, leaving the original company under reorganization essentially “asset stripped” with only liabilities.

Afterward, the company’s shareholders sell that new operating unit (NEWCO) and, as a consequence, all or huge part of the Company’s assets, including its brand name, to a third party, using the sales proceeds free and clear as defined by NEWCO’s shareholders and leaving the ailing original Company and its creditors only with liabilities.

In such cases the third parties in effect actually purchase the entire company (despite trying to characterize it as an operating unit) without succession of any kind. Consequently, it may be considered a legal violation of BBL provisions and the acquiring party may be liable to the application of tax, labor and other succession rules.

Varig Case:
In the bankruptcy reorganization or Varig S/A – Viação Aérea Riograndense (“Varig”), which was the first large in-court reorganization handled under Brazil’s Bankruptcy Reform of 2005 (the BBL took effect on June 9, 2005 and Varig filed its bankruptcy reorganization request one week after, on June 17, 2005), Varig’s creditors approved its reorganization plan, which contemplated the sale of the company’s brand name, operating assets and business, pursuant to article 60 of the BBL.

Varig’s judicial reorganization plan provided for the constitution of a new subsidiary, a new operating unit (referred as Varig Productive Unit / “UPV” or “New Varig”) to which Varig would transfer its whole complex of intangible assets and rights as well as some moveable assets necessary for the operation of the newly created sub, such as flight authorizations certificates (hubs), contracts, etc.

An organizational design specifically structured to transfer practically all of Varig’s business to the sub “New Varig”, clearly a “legal engineering” asset stripping operation to avoid succession, with Varig being called “old Varig”(!!) – a rather odd and puzzling name for a supposedly viable company in a revival process under its bankruptcy reorganization plan, which claimed to bring it back to its feet as a more successful and financially solid company.

Consequently Varig’s (renamed as “Old Varig”) creditors, among them all its 12 thousand employees and tens of thousands of retirees, were left with an asset stripped debtor whose assets were worth dramatically less then its liabilities.

In other words, Varig (“Old Varig”) transferred to its newly created subsidiary “New Varig” all of its most important assets, including its trademark, remaining only with its real estate assets, current assets, radio stations and Flight Training Center, which will, in part, finance certain payments of the Old Varig’s creditors as established in the reorganization plan.

New Varig was then sold to Varig Logística S/A (“VarigLog” – which had its liquidation recently sentenced by a Sao Paulo Bankruptcy Court under BBL’s provisions), a former wholly owned subsidiary of the ailing Varig which was sold under its bankruptcy proceeding for a mere US$ 24 million to a local SPC specifically created for such purpose, controlled by a well known US Vulture Fund in another controversial transaction.

In addition, the payment of certain creditors was made in debentures issued by the New Varig. As it turned out, Variglog was free and clear of any liens and encumbrances, as well as no succession of labor and tax liabilities from Old Varig.

Following those transactions Variglog’s new owners sold New Varig to Gol Airlines for US$ 320 million making and astounding gain.

As expected employees of the old Varig filed legal claims for their labor and indemnification rights against Variglog, taking the matter for Superior Court of Justice’s decision. Justice Ari Pargendler, who analyzed the claim, ruled that the sale of New Varig consisted of a sale of a Varig’s operating unit, not all of Varig, and consequently freed the buyer of succession of responsibilities for the liabilities of the debtor (Old Varig), including debts related to labor and tax claims.

The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice decision benefited the buyer (as well as Varig’s controlling shareholder Fundacao Ruben Berta) in detriment of its tens of thousands workers’ and retirees’ rights, for a significantly reduced preservation of the going concern.

Varig’s case raised a discussion between the Brazilian jurists and Courts as to whether the sale of the UPV characterized the sale of an operating unit or the effective transfer of the whole of Varig’s business – the discussion of the principle of substance over form.

The answer to these discussions, however, will depend on a formal definition of the meaning of the rather universal and obvious expression “operating unit” established by BBL. It is important to notice that legislations of most countries leave no doubt as to what is an “operating unit” – certainly distinct from the Varig’s ruling; more so considering the “legal engineering” implemented by Varig.

Other cases of sale of assets under bankruptcy reorganizations can be observed in the restructuring of various large Brazilian meat processing companies – an export intensive segment strongly affected by 2008 crisis – such as Agrenco do Brasil S/A and its subsidiaries (“Agrenco”), Frigorifico Quatro Marcos Ltda. (“Quatro Marcos”), Grupo Arantes, Frigorifico Estrela and Friforifico Independencia.

Informal, out-of-court, reorgs also took place, with the largest one being the multi-billion merger of giants Sadia and Perdigao.

Agrenco Case:
Under its approved reorganization plan the company sold one of its operating units to a third party – Marialva, and the money raised with such sale was used to pay labor creditors and one of its strategic creditors, Banco do Brasil.

Quaro Marcos Case:
The general plan structured by Quatro Marcos and its creditors regarding the sale of assets was quite interesting. Quatro Marcos entered into an Export Pre-payment Agreement (“EPP”) with Royal Bank of Scotland NV (“ABN NV”), giving, as collateral, the fiduciary property of certain receivables.

ABN NV, afterwards and before the filing of Quatro Marcos for its in-court reorganization, assigned its credits to third parties.

Such creditors constituted the majority of the credits of class II (credits with collateral), and their vote would be decisive to the success of the judicial reorganization.

Following large private discussions between Quatro Marcos and its creditors, as well as numerous Creditors’ General Meetings, Quatro Marcos’ controlling shareholders realized that the only way to make its bankruptcy reorganization feasible was by agreeing to pay the EPP creditors, otherwise they would never have any reorganization plan approved.

Quatro Marcos decided to sell one of its plants (operating unit) and with the money raised, paid the EPP creditors, which allowed for the approval of its judicial reorganization plan.

Grupo Arantes Case:
Grupo Arantes, once one of Brazil’s largest meat processors, with its COMI located in the State of Sao Paulo (Sao Jose do Rio Preto) and pre-petition annual sales of US$ 1 billion, with US$ 600 million of debt, filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009; merger negotiations with a key player in the segment were interrupted.

Its plan also contemplated sales of assets but the bankruptcy proceedings raised many eyebrows as its controlling shareholders filed for bankruptcy protection right after a US$ 250 million local IPO, in a remote small town of difficult access located inside the Amazon Forest (so distant that can only be accessed by boat and 100 miles of dirt road, and which doesn’t have a resident judge), resulting in the imprisonment of its key controlling shareholders. Its reorganization plan still was finally approved in January 2010 but financial situation is still precarious.

Frigorifico Independencia Case:
With a total debt of US$ 2 billion, Independencia – Brazil’s third largest – filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2009, three months after Brazil’s Development Bank (BNDES) injected US$ 150 million in Independencia’s capital, which gave BNDES a 22% stake of its control. Reorganization plan confirmed by the court in December 2009 includes the sale of US$ 70 million in assets and contemplates the sale of the control of the company. The company also filed for Chapter 15 relief in the US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of NY, granted in February 2010. Under the plan its offshore affiliate raised US$ 165 million in Notes issued in March 2010.

The Brazilian Federal Revenue Authorities, understand that in order for the sale to be exempt of taxes to the purchaser, the operating unit must have existed prior to debtor’s filing for bankruptcy reorganization. It does not recognize the succession rule when a production unit is set-up after the in-court reorganization is filed.

Another aspect that must be considered under the BBL is the difference between the sale of part of the assets (including establishments) and the sale of part of the Company’s shares. Differently from the sale of assets, the sale of the Company’s shares does not imply in the change of the tax or legal status of an establishment. In case of partial sale of assets, such as the sale of one of the debtor’s establishments to an unrelated party, on the other hand, there is no succession of liabilities.

The sale of shares also constitutes an important means of reorganization. In such cases, the debtor finds an investor to assume the control of the company, maintaining, however, all debtor’s prior liabilities.

Sementes Selecta Case:
That is what happened, for instance, in the in-court reorganization of Sementes Selecta Ltda (soybeans, byproducts and seeds) in its prepackaged transaction (“Selecta”). Selecta filed for bankruptcy reorganization due to the economic crisis of 2008. Right after filing for bankruptcy protection, Selecta informed its creditors that it already had a new investor interested in the business, the Argentine company Los Grobo, which invested US$ 50 million in new shares issued by Selecta. After the reorganization plan was approved by Creditors, Credit Suisse, a creditor of Selecta, made a US$ 30 million DIP finance to Selecta.

2) FORCED LIQUIDATION PROCEEDING

As established by article 75 of the BBL, the forced liquidation of a company aims at preserving and optimizing the productive use of its assets and productive resources, including intangible assets (USC §363 equivalent).

When the forced liquidation is decreed by the Court, a Judicial Administrator will be nominated (or maintained, in case of a forced liquidation decreed after unsuccessful in-court reorganization).

The Judicial Administrator will consolidate all debtor’s assets and documents, being also responsible to carry out the appraisal of such assets, separately or as a whole, requesting court permission to take the necessary measures for that purpose. All assets will be part of the bankrupt estate.

After assets have been identified by the Judicial Administrator, the consummation of the assets will be initiated. Section X of the BBL provides on how the sale of the assets will be handled.

Article 140 of the BBL establishes the forms by which the debtor’s assets can be sold and the order of preference for such sale, as follows:

(i) sale of the going concern, with the sale of its establishments as a whole;
(ii) sale of the going concern, with the sale of its branches and operating units separately;
(iii) the sale as a whole of the assets that form each of the debtor’s establishments and
(iv) the sale of assets separately considered.

The sale of the going concern as a whole is an innovation in the BBL. Brazil’s previous bankruptcy code did not provide for such possibility. It can be noticed that the forced liquidation, aims at maintaining the operations of the Company and of the jobs, for the benefit of the economy and social welfare.

This procedure is similar to a §363 sale under USC. One of the differences is that the stalking horse figure, or a stalking horse for DIP purposes, has not yet been used in Brazil.

Many experts feel that it is what should have been done by Varig to maximize the proceeds from the sale and avoid draconian losses imposed on tens of thousands employees and creditors with the highly controversial and ineffective procedure implemented by Varig.

The BBL of 2005 establishes that the company will be considered sold as a going concern business when the object of the sale is a group of assets needed to maintain a profitable operation, including the transfer of certain contracts.

Article 141, II of the BBL provides that the asset, establishment or operating unit sold will be free from any encumbrance, also establishing that there will be no succession of any debtor’s obligations, including the ones arising from taxes, labor relations and labor accidents, to the purchaser, except:

(i) when the purchaser is a shareholder/quota holder of the bankrupt Company or is a Company controlled directly or indirectly by the bankrupt Company;
(ii) by a relative, in straight line or related up to the 4th degree in family line of the bankrupt shareholder or
(iii) identified as an agent of the bankrupt Company with the purpose of defrauding the succession,

hypothesis under which the purchaser will still be responsible for the purchased company’s liabilities.

The sale of assets in a forced liquidation proceeding can be implemented by use of the following methods:

(i) public auction, with oral calls;
(ii) closed proposals and
(iii) trading session,

all of which shall be preceded by the publication of announcement of the liquidation in a widely circulated newspaper, 15 days in advance of the liquidation in case of movable assets and, 30 days of advance in case of immovable assets. The purchaser to claim the asset will be the one who gives the highest call.

The Court may also authorize other forms of judicial sale of the assets, through a justifiable request of the Judicial Administrator or the Creditors’ Committee and dully approved by the General Creditors Meeting.

The possibility of selling assets of the company under liquidation regardless the conclusion of the general creditors claims’ list is the most important change to the previous Brazil’s Bankruptcy Code (Decree Law 7.661 of 1945).

Under the previous law, the possibility of sale of a going concern business was an exception – the alternative mostly employed for going concern businesses seen as viable was the lease of its operating units; in general, the company and all its assets were basically sealed by the Court.

Under BBL of 2005, however, the maintenance of the going concern is the rule and the sealing a last resort, when nothing else can be done to maximize value.

The immediate sale of assets provided in the BBL increases the possibilities of raising higher sums of money for creditors’ payments, since in general, assets sold as going concern businesses have much greater value.

For instance, if a debtor detains a strong brand name and it is sold when it is still valuable, the purchaser will obviously be willing to pay more for it.

Mappin Case:
A good example is a large case in Brazil which started in 1999, before BBL’s Reform of 2005, when Mappin – a very large billion dollar department store, founded in 1913 – had its liquidation decreed. Back then, Decree Law 7.661/45 was still in force, and it did not provide for the sale of assets before the general creditors claims’ list was completed.

The sale of Mappin’s trademark (highly valuable and strong in 1999) was only made ten years later in December 2009, when it was finally sold through a public auction for a mere R$ 5 million reais (US$ 2 million) , imposing additional losses to creditors.

Had the trademark been sold in 1999, the bankruptcy estate would receive a much higher amount, since Mappin had been one of the most important and successful department stores in the country for almost a century.

Mappin’s liquidation proceedings are far from ending, despite the fact that it has been in place for over ten years, wasting enormous amount of time and money for many parties in interest including the Judiciary, consequently the whole Brazilian Society.

In whatever sales’ method employed, any creditor can present an objection in 48 hours. The Judge shall adjudicate them in 5 days.

One of the means of transferring the property of a specific asset, establishment or operating unit is through the Bankruptcy Court authorization – and after the Creditor’s Committee has been heard – of its immediate acquisition or adjudication by the creditors, separately or as a whole, by its market value and respected the classification and preference among creditors, as established in article 111 of the BBL.

Furthermore, article 113 provides that the perishable assets, the ones that are subject to considerable devaluation and the ones which conservation is risky or expensive may be sold, in advance, after its evaluation, through Court authorization, after the Creditors Committee and the debtor are heard.

Under forced liquidation, the sale or transfer of assets without the express consent or payment of all creditors and which ends up emptying its assets can be declared null and void; in this sense, it can be revoked by the Court, except if none of the creditors present an objection in 30 days after dully summoned.

Por: Jorge Queiroz, Especialista em Gestão de Crises e Recuperação de Empresas – Representante do Comitê de Credores da Massa Falida do Banco Santos

O artigo de autoria do falido, ex-dono do Banco Santos, Edemar Cid Ferreira publicado na edição da Folha de São Paulo do dia 14 de fevereiro de 2011 contem inúmeras inverdades, a começar pelo titulo onde declara que “Hoje, está patente que não houve “rombo bilionário” algum na instituição e que isso foi apenas um pretexto para a intervenção do Banco Central”.

Uma mentira, ainda que repetida milhões de vezes, será sempre uma mentira!

O falido alegar que a quebra do Banco Santos não foi oriunda de “rombo bilionário” equivale ao Madoff declarar que a falência de seu fundo foi um mero pretexto das autoridades monetárias americanas, com a diferença que Madoff encontra-se onde deve estar: encarcerado de forma perpetua. Está no mínimo fazendo pouco do conhecimento e inteligência do universo de credores lesados por seus atos criminosos perpetrados através das inúmeras falcatruas e operações fictícias e irregulares quando na gestão do Banco.

Tenta despudorada e inutilmente de forma nada convincente apresentar aritmética e lógica que lhe aprazem. O fato é que o passivo efetivo liquido atualizado das empresas controladas ou ligadas, direta ou indiretamente, ao falido ascende a R$ 3 bilhões.

Todo o processo envolvendo a quebra do Banco Santos e o falido está devidamente documentado em caminhões de volumes que amparam a plena correção e justiça das decisões prolatadas pelo Poder Judiciário. A falência do banco foi pedida pelos credores ao Banco Central e o ex-banqueiro desistiu do recurso impetrado no Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo contra a decretação da quebra.

Os procedimentos ilícitos de Edemar Cid Ferreira e de seus ex-administradores, objeto de denúncia pelo Ministério Público Federal, tiveram seu enquadramento na Lei 7.492 de crimes contra o sistema financeiro e na Lei 9.613 de lavagem de dinheiro, com a condenação do ex-banqueiro a 21 anos de reclusão, estando ele no seu direito de apelar em liberdade; porem, efetivamente condenado.

Em várias falências é comum o falido tentar isentar-se de responsabilidade por seus ilícitos e fazer-se passar por vítima injustiçada. Alguns chegam até mesmo a escrever livros. O caso em tela não é exceção — alega ter sido “um pretexto do Banco Central”. No caso não há nenhum processo por ele ingressado contra o Banco Central sobre a decretação da intervenção e liquidação extrajudicial do banco.

A recuperação de ativos do Banco Santos com respectivo rateio de 30% do valor histórico dos créditos representa um caso modelo (foi recebido até fevereiro de 2011 o montante de R$ 954 milhões) pela firme atuação do Poder Judiciário, inclusive do Ministério Publico, da Administração Judicial e do Comitê de Credores; sendo, decisões judiciais amplamente favoráveis a tese da torpeza bilateral, que se fundamenta na cumplicidade do devedor com o esquema Ponzi montado pelo falido e ex-administradores do banco, um dos fatores mais relevantes. Da mesma sorte é de grande relevância a proposta de acordo com estes devedores, aprovada pelo Comitê de Credores, sem óbices do Ministério Público Estadual, autorizada pelo Juiz da Falência, referendada pela Câmara Especial de Falência e Recuperação Judicial e acatada pelo Superior Tribunal de Justiça (no Supremo Tribunal Federal, o recurso do banqueiro foi rejeitado). Uma dessas operações casadas batizadas de “reciprocidade” e praticadas em grande escala consistia, por exemplo, da oferta pelo Banco de um empréstimo de 100, exigindo a reciprocidade de aplicação em debentures de empresas direta ou indiretamente controladas pelo ex-banqueiro de 50% a 100% do empréstimo. O que o ex-banqueiro refere-se como “até 75% de desconto” consiste no reconhecimento pela massa de até 75% do valor das debentures detidas pelo devedor como parte do pagamento de sua dívida fruto de operação casada de “reciprocidade”, o que é totalmente distinto do que alega o falido.

Cabe destacar que o ex-banqueiro rotineiramente interpõe recurso contra todos os acordos realizados pela massa com o claro objetivo de procrastinar o bom andamento da falência e rateio entre credores. É cediço que quanto mais atraso sofrer o processo falimentar tanto melhor para o falido que em razão do descasamento da correção entre ativos e passivos, fato que dependendo da duração da falência pode até mesmo tornar o falido em credor, como já ocorreu em alguns casos no Brasil. O único acordo a que Edemar Cid Ferreira não se opôs foi o realizado com uma empresa do Grupo Folha de São Paulo. Os credores a quem o ex-banqueiro se refere quando alega que “por sua vez, os principais credores do Banco Santos, incluindo vários fundos de pensão, entraram com ações judiciais contra os acordos que deram descontos de até 75% aos devedores” detém cerca de 25% dos créditos e são representados pelo solitário escritório Lobo e Ibeas, na pessoa de seu sócio Luiz Eugenio Muller Filho, o único a se insurgir contra as decisões da massa previa e detalhadamente analisadas e aprovadas pelo Comitê de Credores em único e exclusivo interesse e beneficio da coletividade de credores. Com efeito, o referido escritório foi derrotado no Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo em suas tentativas de anular os acordos feitos pela massa, fato que imputou perdas e danos à totalidade dos credores pelo atraso gerado. Merece destaque o fato desse mesmo escritório na pessoa do referido advogado estar patrocinando a criação de um Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios (FIDC) com a participação do falido com quem tem mantido conversações. Por essas e outras razões alguns credores interromperam os serviços desse escritório.

A alegação de que outros R$ 3 bilhões irão engordar o caixa da massa falida é igualmente improcedente tanto quanto absurda, vez que se trata do valor total das ações movidas pela massa e que se encontram em discussão judicial, entre as quais as conhecidas cédulas de produto rural (CPR´s) de aluguel, com uso de empresas laranja, responsáveis pelo desvio de recursos do Banco Santos em R$460 milhões; existem ainda outras ações movidas contra devedores, que alegam também serem credores por debêntures, aplicações no exterior, etc, respondendo por valores nominalmente elevados. Todas essas questões judiciais são controversas e seu desfecho é desconhecido.

Um dos princípios basilares da Lei de Falências é o da celeridade. Os credores quirografários por sua vez, em sua vasta maioria, não podem e não querem esperar dez anos ou mais aguardando o desfecho do julgamento de uma coisa incerta. Desejam receber o máximo possível já, o quanto antes possível, pois têm consciência de que é uma ilusão imaginar que poderiam receber a totalidade de seus créditos, quando a historia de recuperação de ativos em falências no Brasil é a pior possível – quando muito não passa de 5% em prazos intermináveis. Com efeito, sabem ainda que a massa pode perder a causa e ter de arcar ainda com sucumbências milionárias. Em recente avaliação da carteira de crédito, no cenário mais otimista possível, a sua alienação foi estimada em R$ 277 milhões.

Acordos feitos com bancos estrangeiros, com pagamento de 75% do valor em dólar de hoje, proporcionaram a liberação de reservas de crédito e conseqüente maior valor a pagar em rateio aos credores quirografários.

Esta falência é única também pelo fato de existirem devedores que se dizem igualmente credores do banco ou das empresas do falido. Os nomes: Sanvest e Santospar, sempre passaram aos clientes que aplicavam em debêntures a existência de ligação direta com o Banco Santos, entendimento este sedimentado pelos gerentes e diretores do banco. Além destas empresas, outras foram utilizadas por Edemar Cid Ferreira na montagem do esquema Ponzi, denominado por ele como “reciprocidade”, controlada na famosa “Planilha M”. A saber: Delta, Omega, Quality, Agribusiness, Pillar, PDR, no Brasil. E as offshores: Alsace Lorraine, Gainex, Zertond, etc. Além das próprias empresas do grupo: Procid Participações, Procid Invest e Invest Santos.

A busca de ativos para satisfação dos credores é atribuição legal do administrador judicial. O despejo da esposa do ex-banqueiro do imóvel da Rua Gália, pertencente à igualmente falida Atalanta Participações, alugada desde sua conclusão em 2004, onde foram gastos R$ 142 milhões, está dentro dessas atribuições.

É desejo da coletividade de credores que todos os ativos, incluindo obras de arte, objetos moveis e imóveis, arrecadados pela massa no Brasil e exterior sejam alienados no menor espaço de tempo possível, sendo os recursos financeiros provenientes distribuídos entre os credores lesados pelo ex-banqueiro, muitos dos quais administradores de poupança previdenciária de milhões de brasileiros — trabalhadores, aposentados, desempregados, não-empregados e socialmente excluídos.

A triste verdade é que no final das contas os credores jamais verão grande parte de seus créditos. O grande desejo dos credores é que a justiça seja feita dentro do mais amplo espírito e rigor da lei nas esferas cível e criminal.

* Jorge Queiroz é também membro fundador do International Insolvency Institute e representa o Brasil na International Federation of Insolvency Associations.  Autor de diversos artigos técnicos no Brasil e exterior como Valor Economico, Consultor Juridico, Migalhas, Euromoney, American Brankruptcy Association, Insol. Autor e co-autor de livros sobre turnaround. Palentrante convidado em congressos e universidades no Brasil e Exterior.