Wyoming Representative Harriet M. Hageman, best known for ending the political career of former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, is currently urging SEC Chairman Gary Gentler to veto a proposed initial public offering (IPO) by international meat processor JBS, SA.
Over the past year, JBS has sought permission to list its shares on both the Sao Paulo and New York Stock Exchanges.
There has been significant organized opposition to JBS’s financial plans, much of it from left-leaning “Ban Batista” organizations that advocate a global boycott of JBS products, but Rep. Hageman is one of the most conservative members of Congress and wants to bring the hammer down on JBS just as he did on Cheney.
In a letter to the SEC chairman, she said she had “deep concerns” about JBS, which “for many years has engaged in illegal conduct to increase its control over the global meat processing market.” The lone congressman from Wyoming said a guilty verdict would show JBS poses a serious threat to American investors, the American farming community and food affordability.
“In the past seven years alone, JBS and its parent company, J&F Investments, and U.S. subsidiaries owned or controlled by Joe Lee and Wesley Batista, who were convicted of corporate crimes, have been assessed at least $3.4 billion in fines and penalties in the United States and Brazil,” Hageman told the SEC. These amounts, he said, include penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Hageman argued that JBS’s “history of bribery, fraud and corruption” was enough to “dissuade” the SEC from approving the dual listing. He accused brothers Josly and Wesley Batista of a “brazen disregard for sound corporate governance.” The brothers went from being defendants in Brazil’s judicial system to being re-elected to the JBS board.
Ban Batista, a group calling for a global boycott of JBS, opposes what it calls “an unbridled power grab by major shareholders Joe and Wesley Batista.”
“JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer, and its owners, the notorious Brazilian Batista brothers, intend to list their shares on the New York Stock Exchange. This IPO must be blocked,” the Ban Batista Campaign said. “Allowing JBS to access America’s stock markets would aid and abet the Batista brothers’ corrupt and dangerous criminal activities at the expense of American farmers, consumers and investors.”
JBS USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS, SA, also has a significant presence in North America.
“Ban the Batista” is a creative group. After the brothers were re-elected to the JBS board of directors, “Ban the Batista” came up with “Joesley Day” to celebrate May 17, 2017, the day the bribery recordings were made public and had disastrous consequences for the São Paulo stock market, bringing the Brazilian government to its knees.
“JBS poses unacceptable risks to investors and its request for dual listing should be denied,” said Hageman, a lawyer and elected member of Congress.
Hageman’s letter follows one from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators last January expressing similar concerns.
A decision to list Brazilian meat processor JBS SA on the New York Stock Exchange has been postponed until late 2024.
(Click here to sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News.)
