Porsche Plaintiffs Must Prove “Vicious Behavior”

A German regional court has set what it calls an "extremely high" burden of proof for investors who are suing Porsche Automobil Holding SE for allegedly misleading them about its plans to acquire Volkswagen AG.

The judge told the plaintiffs in one of the first cases to be heard that they must show that Porsche's actions were "vicious." He says the court will decide whether the case meets the standard and issue a ruling on Sept. 19.

Plaintiffs face another major obstacle: Under German law, they have almost no access to company records. American courts offer much broader rights to pre-trial discovery. But judges there have dismissed several lawsuits on grounds that investors have no grounds to sue in the U.S.

The investors are seeking for their losses on VW shares in 2008. They note that Porsche denied rumors that it planned a VW takeover even as it was using a complicated options scheme to secretly amass a controlling staking in the auto giant. VW shares soared when Porsche revealed its holdings.

Porsche denies any wrongdoing.