A German court ruled that Volkswagen should have gone public in 2008 with the engine plan that sparked its diesel emissions scandal, reported Reuters.
Volkswagen, which admitted in 2015 to cheating U.S. diesel engine tests, said it had fulfilled all its disclosure obligations and any compensation claims were unfounded.
The 2015 admission sparked the biggest crisis in Volkswagen’s history and has cost the German company more than 32 billion euros ($38 billion) in vehicle refits, fines and legal costs so far.
The scandal has been traced back to 2008, approximately when Volkswagen started using software to control diesel engine emissions that was later ruled illegal when discovered by U.S. regulators.
Whether investors can claim compensation for the plunge in Volkswagen’s share price after the scandal was exposed depends on whether it can be proven that any member of the company’s executive board was aware the plan constituted cheating, the higher regional court in Braunschweig said on Thursday.
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