ABSTRACT
More recently, the Brazilian Federal Justice blocked a suspicious deal of BRL 4 million involving the sale of Ipiranga Group shares before the announcement of the acquisition of the group by Petrobras, Braskem, and Ultra Group. e injunction order, solicited by CVM and by the Federal Public Ministry, was issued on March 21, 2007 and it impeded two investors-a foreign fund and a physical person-from receiving the money obtained from the sale of the shares. However, the Justice’s decision does not hinder the sale of the company. e press reported that two days prior to the announcement of the sale of Ipiranga, the price of the company’s stocks traded in Bovespa appreciated by 33 percent. For this reason, immediately aer the disclosure of the sale of Ipiranga, CVM stated that it suspected insider trading and would launch an investigation. e federal judge, Mauro da Costa Braga, of the 1st Federal Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro, said he understood that the trade aected market credibility. CVM asked for clarication concerning the strong appreciation of the stock price. Ipiranga replied that assessors of the controlling shareholders had held condential negotiations with assessors of potential buyers. For the rst time, a legal act blocked a stock market trade based on suspicious insider information. If insider trading is conrmed during the investigation, CVM can impose a ne and demand that the investors involved be banned from the nancial market for up to twenty years (Revista Consultor Jurídico, March 22, 2007). By the time this chapter was nished, no decision had yet been taken by CVM or by the Federal Justice.
