SEC Obtains Final Consent Judgment as to Senior Executive of Brazilian Company Charged With Fraud

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the following litigation release (No. 1:22-cv-03156; S.D.N.Y. filed Apr. 18, 2022) involving senior executive of Brazilian company Fernando Passos:

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The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today the entry of a final consent judgment as to Fernando Passos in the SEC's civil enforcement action that charged Passos, the former executive vice president of finance and investor relations of Brazilian reinsurance company IRB Brasil Resseguros S.A., for allegedly planting a false story with the media and disseminating false documents claiming that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had recently made a substantial investment in IRB.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in New York, Passos, in an effort to boost IRB's stock price following a short seller's report questioning IRB's financial results, fabricated and shared with others a shareholder list that showed Berkshire had made substantial purchases of IRB stock. Passos also allegedly made false and misleading statements to at least four investors and one securities analyst concerning Berkshire's purported investment in IRB. According to the complaint, IRB's stock price rose by more than 6 percent after the media reported the false Berkshire news, and subsequently dropped by more than 40 percent after Berkshire's public denial that it had ever invested, or intended to invest, in IRB.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Passos consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, barring him from serving as an officer or director of a public company, and imposing a civil penalty of $500,000. The final judgment was entered by the Court on February 25, 2026.

The SEC's litigation against Passos was conducted by Zachary Carlyle and Jodanna Haskins and supervised by Gregory Kasper and Nicholas Heinke, all of the SEC's Denver Regional Office. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jeffrey Lyons and supervised by Ian Karpel.

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Resources

* SEC Complaint (https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2026/comp26493.pdf)

* Final Judgment (https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2026/judg26493.pdf)

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Original text here: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26493