Brazil court delays ruling on Metropolitana sale
Reuters, Thursday, April 16, 1998 at 23:33
SAO PAULO, April 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's Superior Court of
Justice on Thursday said it postponed a ruling on a state
government appeal of a judge's decision to invalidating the
sale of Eletropaulo's Metropolitana (SAO:ELP) distributor.
"The ruling was postponed to Friday," a court spokeswoman
said. She could not provide further details.
The case was brought to the high court after a Brazilian
judge ordered the annulment of the sale, which took place
Wednesday. He said the privatization auction was invalid on the
grounds that the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and Sao
Paulo state officials disobeyed his injunction suspending the
sale.
Judge Amador da Cunha Bueno, vice president of Sao Paulo
state Justice Tribunal, granted the injunction at the request
of an electricity workers union.
Sao Paulo stock exchange and state officials, however, said
the auction had been completed before the judge issued a
legally binding injunction.
Metropolitana was sold for the minimum price of 2.026
billion reais to Brazilian private power utility Light (SAO:LIG)
at an auction that attracted only one bidder.
The company was one of the two distributors spun off from
Eletropaulo, Latin America's largest electricity distributor,
in a pre-privatization breakup.
Bandeirante (SAO:EBN), the other distributor on sale
Wednesday, drew no bidders.
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service
=============================
Brazil's Cardoso backs bill to push through reform
Reuters, Thursday, April 16, 1998 at 22:36
BRASILIA, April 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso on Thursday backed a bill that would make it
easier to pass constitutional reforms of the country's taxation
and political party systems.
"I imagine that now we will be able to make great strides
in the direction of reform of the tax system, politics and the
judiciary," Cardoso said at a ceremony to swear in Sen. Antonio
Freitas Neto to the new post of institutional reform minister.
The measure calls for a special one-year session of
Congress starting January 1, 1999. During that period,
constitutional reforms of the country's unwieldy tax structure
and the volatile political system could be approved with
straight majority votes in Congress.
Currently, a constitutional reform requires three-fifths
majorities in two separate votes in each house of Congress.
That has slowed the government's attempts to streamline the
civil service and social security systems over the last three
years.
Analysts said the president's endorsement meant the bill
now has a better chance of being passed before July, when many
lawmakers will devote themselves to campaigning for the October
elections.
The bill -- itself a constitutional amendment -- has
already been approved by a committee in the Chamber of
Deputies, the lower house. It must now be passed by
three-fifths majorities in two separate votes on the floor of
the chamber before going to the Senate.
If approved by Congress, the proposed "mini-constitutional
session" would have to be put to a national referendum.
That would take place on October 4 when Brazilians go to
the polls to choose a president, state governors and many
members of Congress.
joelle.diderich@reuters.com))
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service
==============================
Brazil's real ends off as mini-band cut seen soon
SAO PAULO, April 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's real dropped 0.04 percent Thursday to end at 1.1409 per dollar in the commercial foreign exchange market amid expectations of an imminent cut in the currency mini-band, dealers said.
biz.yahoo.com |
