A US judge has thrown out cases against the auditors and bankers of Parmalat, the Italian dairy company that collapsed in 2003 because of accounting fraud.
The cases – against Deloitte & Touche's US and Italian units, Grant Thornton International's US business, Bank of America, Italy's Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA, and units of Credit Suisse Group - were brought by the plan administrator for Parmalat USA and the litigation trustee for its Farmland dairies unit, both of which are former US subsidiaries of Parmalat.
Judge Lewis Kaplan told the subsidiary's legal counsel that the majority of the alleged wrongdoing attributed to the banks and auditors occurred outside the jurisdiction of the United States and that the defendants therefore did not have to face charges, CFO.com reported.
In January Deloitte and Dianthus SpA – which operated in Italy under the Deloitte name until 2003 - agreed to pay $149m in damages to Parmalat to settle US claims. At the time, the parties also agreed to withdraw all pending actions and allegations between them.
Further reading:
Parmalat founder and CFO charged over collapse
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