MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina regulator to investigate YPF and Repsol YPF on accounting standards

Spain’s Antonio Brufau is chairman of YPF and CEO of Repsol YPF

Argentina’s securities regulator said it will investigate the chairman and chief executive officer of YPF SA, the nation’s largest oil producer, as part of a probe into the company’s accounting.

Chairman Antonio Brufau, CEO Sebastian Eskenazi and other executives will be investigated because some YPF financial reports didn’t meet local accounting standards and time-lines, the regulator said in a filing Monday.

Brufau is also the chairman and CEO of Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s largest energy producer and YPF parent company with about 58.2% of the shares. Repsol has cut its stake in YPF by about 26% since November through offerings in New York and private placements, which included the sale of about 10% to the Eskenazi family in May for 1.3 billion dollars.

Other executives named in the filing include YPF Vice Chairman Enrique Eskenazi, YPF General Director Antonio Gomis and YPF board member Luis Suarez de Lezo Mantilla, who is also a Repsol executive director.

A press official for YPF in Buenos Aires said the company will respond to the agency’s requests in “due time”.