Brazil Regulator Charges Rial and Duarte Neto in Americanas Case

Brazil’s securities regulator filed the first charges involving the accounting scandal and bankruptcy at retail giant Americanas SA.

The CVM, as the regulator is known, accused the company’s ex-chief executive officer Sergio Rial over “inconsistencies” in the disclosure of a 20 billion reais ($4 billion) accounting hole to the market.

Rial and Joao Guerra Duarte Neto, who replaced Rial on an interim basis, are accused of having violated the Brazilian corporation law, which imposes the need for secrecy on any information that has not yet been disclosed for market knowledge and may significantly influence investors’ decisions to sell or buy ...