Some legal actions are in progress against the company Saipem, with the aim of recovering the value lost by the shares as a result of corporate events of 2015-2016; the outcome is uncertain, as always when going to court, but there are law firms that offer free assistance at every stage of the trial, and in the end they will only require payment in case of victory. We talk about it not only and not so much to examine the Saipem case itself, which is quite ordinary from a legal point of view, but to illustrate how these things work in general, also hearing from independent experts.
In this regard, we also contacted the company Saipem which explained to us that it did not deem it appropriate to comment on ongoing legal disputes.
Let’s start, in a certain sense, from the end, that is, from the costs of the case. In reality this shouldn’t be the first thing to worry about, but for many savers burned by capital losses it is the first of the worries, because (and humanly you can understand) they can’t bear the idea of risking losing more money. Various hypotheses arise.
By way of example, the Martingale Risk company in Rome, specialized in financial legal disputes and in the recovery of losses suffered due to investments, has activated a negotiation and judicial action to which hundreds of savers have already joined (you can join up to December 31) by not asking for any advance but only a fee equal to 25% plus VAT of the amounts recovered by way of settlement or final judgment, “without requesting any amount by way of compensation and / or expenses”.
Again by way of example, the consumer association Codacons makes a different request: 300 euros if the sum involved is less than 10,000 euros or 600 if it is higher, plus 10% of what may be recovered by the saver in the end. A round of phone calls allowed us to ascertain that the requests of Martingale and Codacons are to be considered ordinary in the legal sector.
As regards the substance of the dispute, Martingale takes action on behalf of the clients “to obtain compensation for the damages suffered by the investment in Saipem SpA shares, for the serious irregularities committed by the latter in the preparation of the financial statements for the 2015 and 2016 and the offer documentation relating to the share capital increase of January-February 2016 “.
There are no legal certainties in this regard, but Martingale notes that «these irregularities have already been sanctioned by Consob through Resolutions no. 20324 of 2/3/2018 and n. 20828 of 21/2/2019 and are subject to investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor “. Below is a series of references to acts of the same Public Prosecutor’s Office and of the Lazio TAR.
Martingale invites to join his legal action «anyone who has invested in Saipem securities before 11 February 2016». The deadline for joining, as mentioned, is next December 31st.
At the first contact, documentation is requested to make a specific analysis of the individual customer’s situation. What documents do you need? Codacons explains that purchase orders for the securities are necessary but it is also necessary to prove that those securities have not been sold; but how can you prove it? From Codacons they replied that “it is necessary to ask the bank for the certificate of continuous ownership”, as well as the information notes on purchases and sales relating to Saipem shares.
The lawyer Angelo Castelli di Formia, one of the leading experts in legal cases for the protection of savings, although not involved in the dispute with Saipem, gives this advice: “The economic conditions of legal assistance must be established in a written agreement with the proponent , to be countersigned. Oral insurance is not enough and not even a simple letter in which it is written that legal assistance is free of charge, there must be a countersigned power of attorney ».