U.S. investment firm Cartica Management LLC said on Thursday it added Ita� Unibanco Holding SA as a defendant in its lawsuit to stop the Brazilian bank from winning control of Chilean bank CorpBanca SA. Cartica alleged Ita�, CorpBanca and billionaire Alvaro Saieh, CorpBanca's controlling shareholder, violated U.S. anti-fraud and disclosure rules.In a statement, Cartica said Saieh, Ita� and CorpBanca were "continuing to withhold material information, and failing to correct material misstatements," even after it sued, claiming multiple violations of U.S. securities laws.Control of CorpBanca would not only give Ita� a foothold in retail banking in Chile, but provide a way to expand in Colombia, South America's fastest-growing economy last year. Ita� is contending with slowing economic growth in Brazil, where it trails state-run lender Banco do Brasil SA.Cartica's move, a rare instance of investor activism in the region, aims to upset Latin America's largest banking combination since 2008. Cartica, which oversees about $2 billion in assets, owns about 3.2 percent of CorpBanca's common shares.
CorpBanca is a Chile-based bank engaged in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. Shares of BCA remained unchanged at $18.11. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.37 and as high as $22.30. On average, 66809 shares of BCA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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