A U.S. judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit by Abengoa SA shareholders accusing the Spanish engineering and energy company of conducting a massive accounting fraud between 2013 and 2015 that masked a liquidity crisis and culminated in bankruptcy, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan rejected claims, including from a whistleblower, that Abengoa routinely inflated profit margins and prematurely recognized revenue from contracts in order to boost executive bonuses. In a 56-page decision, Ramos said Abengoa did not mislead shareholders by publicly touting its "strict financial discipline," and said receipt of performance-based bonuses did not by itself establish a motive to defraud. He also said shareholders waited too long sue Bank of America, Canaccord Genuity, HSBC and Societe Generale, which helped Abengoa sell 517.5 million euros ($518 million) of American depositary shares in October 2013. The lawsuit covered investors who bought Abengoa's ADS between Oct. 17, 2013, and Aug. 2, 2015, the day before Abengoa surprised the market by seeking a capital increase. Its market value fell an estimated $8.1 billion over the next two days.
