Americanas Managers Presented Conflicting Information Over Debt

Auditor PwC said team denied supply chain financing to the end
Administrador said the company reported transactions to CVM

An Americanas store in Brasilia on Jan. 21. Americanas SA imploded following a revelation that it was hiding more than 20 billion reais ($3.8 billion) of debt and has since filed for bankruptcy protection. — An Americanas store in Brasilia on Jan. 21. Americanas SA imploded following a revelation that it was hiding more than 20 billion reais ($3.8 billion) of debt and has since filed for bankruptcy protection.
Photographer: Gustavo Minas/Bloomberg

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By Cristiane Lucchesi and Jessica Brice

March 23, 2023 at 9:30 PM UTC

Updated on

March 24, 2023 at 2:57 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The management team at Brazilian retailer Americanas SA told its external auditor and internal auditing committee as late as December 2022 that there were no supply-chain financing operations taking place at the firm.

At the same time, executives gave the securities regulator CVM conflicting information, and a central bank system showed the account registering supply chain financing at the firm had ballooned to almost 17 billion reais ($3.2 billion).