Volkswagen to Pay SEC $48.8 Million in Emissions Cheating Suit

A financial subsidiary of Volkswagen AG agreed to pay $48.8 million to settle claims that it defrauded American investors by installing emissions cheating devices in its vehicles, according to an agreement with the SEC.

The auto manufacturer will be permanently restrained and enjoined from violating securities laws that prohibit companies from using devices or schemes to make untrue statements or omit facts from investors, according to the consente decree with Volkswagen Group of America Finance LLC.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that VW repeatedly lied to and misled US investors, consumers, and regulators as part of its scheme to sell “clean diesel” vehicles that exceeded legal emissions limits. The company marketed bonds and other securities without disclosing that its cars used “defeat devices” to conceal emissions from at least 2007 through 2015, the complaint said.

Though VW says the consent decree isn’t an admission of guilt, the company agreed in the deal to not make any public statements that create the impression the SEC’s lawsuit was inaccurate.

The consent decree, filed Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, asks Judge Charles R. Breyer to dismiss the case.

VW was represented Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

The case is SEC v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, N.D. Cal., No. 3:19-cv-01391, 3/15/24.