Bancolombia S.A. Announces That the United States Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit Ruled In Favor of Bancolombia S.A.
MEDELLIN, Colombia, June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a decision dated
June 2, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the
"Court of Appeals") confirmed the decision of February 28, 2008 by the United
States Court for the Southern District of New York (the "Court"), which
dismissed the complaint of the sellers of the former Banco de Colombia (the
"Plaintiffs") against Bancolombia S.A. ("Bancolombia"), its president Jorge
Londono Saldarriaga, and some directors of Bancolombia at the time of the
merger and acquisition.
As previously disclosed by Bancolombia, the Court dismissed Plaintiff's
complaint based on the principle of res judicata and held that the award of
the Colombian arbitral tribunal (the "Tribunal"), dated May 16, 2006, decided
the same claims filed before the Court. The Plaintiffs appealed this decision
arguing that the Tribunal had not decided the claims related with the
violation of the United States securities regulations.
The Court of Appeals held that the Tribunal had decided the merits of all
claims, and confirmed particularly, that the Tribunal rejected the main three
allegations of the complaint filed before the Court. The Tribunal found that
(i) Bancolombia had not manipulated the price of ADRs on the New York Stock
Exchange; (ii) the failure to raise U.S. $150 million was neither a breach of
an express contractual obligation nor fraudulent or willful misconduct; and
(iii) neither Bancolombia nor the remaining defendants engaged in transactions
or conduct in violation of Colombian law and sound banking practices.
The decision by the Court of Appeals was adopted unanimously by the Hon.
Jose A. Cabranes, Hon. Richard C. Wesley and Hon. J. Clifford Wallace, who
affirmed that any deficiency in the Tribunal's explanations of the Plaintiff's
U.S. law claims was the result of the Plaintiff's tactical choices before the
Tribunal, not a lack of capability or willingness by the Tribunal to determine
the claims.
SOURCE Bancolombia S.A.
Sergio Restrepo, Executive VP, +574-5108668, or Jaime A. Velasquez, Financial
VP, +574-5108666, or Juan Esteban Toro, IR Manager, +574-5108866, all for
Bancolombia S.A.
