Volkswagen Pays $15 Million Price for U.S. Emissions Cheating Settlement

Volkswagen has settled the U.S. portion of its emissions scandal litigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission has written new rules for disclosure of donations by oil, gas and mining companies.

VW Settles U.S. Lawsuts for Nearly $15 Billion

Volkswagen AG will spend more than $15 billion to settle consumer lawsuits and government allegations that it cheated on emissions tests in what lawyers are calling the largest auto-related class-action settlement in U.S. history.

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Under the settlement revealed Tuesday by a U.S. District Court in San Francisco, VW will pay just over $10 billion to either buy back or repair about 475,000 vehicles with cheating 2-liter diesel engines. The company also will compensate owners with payments of $5,100 to $10,000, depending on the age of their vehicles.

SEC Passes New Oil/Gas, Mining Disclosure Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday approved a rule requiring oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments, capping a process stalled in the courts for years.The rule requires companies to state publicly starting in 2018 how much they pay governments in taxes, royalties and other types of fees for exploration, extraction and other activities.

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An earlier version of the rule was thrown out for being overly broad by a federal judge and the American Petroleum Institute said it is reviewing the new rule and would consider legal action if necessary.