The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

US Court rules for CVX in Ecuador environmental suit:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304815004579419081800950164

A federal judge ruled in favor of Chevron Corp. on Tuesday in a civil racketeering case, saying a record $9.5 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador against the oil giant was "obtained by corrupt means." U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan found that New York lawyer Steven Donziger and his litigation team engaged in coercion, bribery, money laundering and other criminal conduct in pursuit of the 2011 verdict.

The decision barred Mr. Donziger and his two Ecuadorean co-defendants from profiting from the verdict.

CVX has no assets in Ecuador; hence, unless the Ecadorean plaintiffs can attach CVX’s assets in third-party countries, which seems unlikely, the overhang from this lawsuit would seem to be over. The reason CVX is up only slightly today is that few investors took the original legal judgment in Ecuador seriously (#msg-54460930).