Porsche 2009 Annual Report Download - page 244

244 Financials
[32] Contingent liabilities
31/7/2010 31/7/2009
thereof
€ million
continuing
operations
Guarantees 0 174 0
Warranties 0 51 0
Collateral for third-party liabilities 0 232 0
Other contingent liabilities 0 796 0
No provisions were recognized for the contingent liabilities disclosed in the prior year as
the occurrence of the risk was not probable.
The trust assets and liabilities of the saving and trust companies belonging to the South
American subsidiaries of the Volkswagen group, which were not included in the consolidated bal-
ance sheet in the prior year, amounted to €632 million in the prior year. These were included in
other contingent liabilities of the discontinued operations.
Litigation
On 25 January 2010, 17 plaintiffs filed a complaint for damages in the USA against Por-
sche SE and former members of its executive board Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger P. Härter
with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On 29 April 2010 and
4 June 2010, the complaint was expanded to a total of 41 plaintiffs, and the alleged damages were
estimated at more than US$2 billion. The plaintiffs filed a third amended complaint on 21 July 2010
on account of a ruling issued shortly before by the U.S. Supreme Court. Whereas all 41 plaintiffs
had filed claims in the second amended complaint with reference to the U.S. Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, the number of plaintiffs referring to this legal basis for their claims was down to 16 in
the third amended complaint. Six plaintiffs withdrew their claims against all defendants on the same
day, 21 July 2010. On 20 May 2010, a claim for damages was submitted to the same court in New
York, with damages claimed totaling “several hundred million dollars”. This claim was amended on
23 July 2010. Both complaints allege that Porsche SE’s activities in connection with its acquisition
of a stake in Volkswagen AG during the year 2008 constituted market manipulation and securities
fraud in violation of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act. Porsche believes that both complaints are
inadmissible and without merit, and has sought their dismissal.
In Germany, institutional investors have applied for conciliatory proceedings against Por-
sche SE with regard to the assertion of claims for damages on the basis of alleged breaches of
statutory capital market regulations. These claims relate to the alleged loss of earnings, estimated
by the investors to be around €2.5 billion. Porsche SE will not take part in the conciliatory proceed-
ings, and considers the asserted claims to be without merit.