IRB Brasil Exec Must Face SEC Suit Over Faux Berkshire Story (1)

A former Brazilian reinsurance executive will continue facing an SEC enforcement action alleging he planted a false Berkshire Hathaway Inc. story to boost his company’s stock price, a US judge said.

Fernando Passos, who previously was IRB Brasil Resseguros SA’s top financial officer, didn’t convince Judge Gregory H. Woods that he couldn’t be sued over purported securities fraud on a Brazilian exchange in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

While the Supreme Court in 2010 held that this type of alleged violation did not reach foreign transactions, Woods said in his Dec. 21 order, “a ...