A U.S. federal judge in San Francisco agreed to give both the SEC and Volkswagen AG time to resolve a civil lawsuit, Reuters reported Aug. 16, citing a case conference. The SEC filed the suit against the German carmaker over its diesel emissions scandal.
Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for Northern California cited a California SEC case that found any penalty could be reduced to account for other criminal or civil payments and made reference to the huge penalties the auto group has paid so far. Breyer said he would put the case on hold until Oct. 4 and ordered both sides "to sit down" and try to resolve the problem.
In May, Breyer questioned why the SEC took three years to sue the carmaker.
The SEC filed a civil suit against Volkswagen in March for allegedly defrauding U.S. investors by making "deceptive" claims about its diesel cars.
Volkswagen and the SEC did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's requests for comment.
