CalPERS, other big investors sue VWfor billions

Volkswagen Group’s big institutional investors, including California’s huge public pension fund, are suing the German automaker for $ 3.57 billion in damages over its handling of the emissions scandal, which has seen VW’s stock price shrivel by a third.

Attorney Andreas Tilp said Tuesday that the suit in the German regional court in Braunschweig was joined by investors from14 countries. Among the plaintiffs is the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, also knownas CalPERS.

Volkswagen had no immediate comment on the suit, but it has said shareholder lawsuits in Germany are without merit.

Tilp already has filed a suit on behalf of individual investors, alleging that Volkswagen didn’t inform investors in a timelyway about the troubles with diesel cars.

Marc Schiefer, an attorney with Tilp’s firm, said Volks-wagen did not live up to legal requirements that it inform investors of troubles with diesel engines between 2008 and 2015.

German securities law requires that companies tell investors when they have information that could seriously affect the share price. If the negative information had been made public, investors could have either decided not to buy the stock or would have been able to buy it at a lower price.

Volkswagen is being sued by U. S. authorities over 600,000 cars equipped with software that defeated diesel emissions tests. The company has apologized and said it would fix the cars. Some11 million cars worldwide are affected.

The company’s preference shares have fallen 33% since Sept. 17, the day before the scandal became public.

Volkswagen has set aside $ 7.4 billion to cover costs from recalls, but analysts said the final cost of lawsuits and lost sales could be several times higher.

The automaker issued a statement March 2 saying it had met its disclosure obligations under German law.