JP Morgan Chase has sued iconic Mexican supermarket operator Controladora Comercial Mexicana (CCM) (MXK: COMERCIUBC) in a New York state court alleging breach of its obligation to maintain collateral in its exchange-rate derivative transactions, according to a Sentidocomun.com report, which cited a Bloomberg report.

The lawsuit seeks US$477.5 million from CCM.  CCM said that it had been notified of the lawsuit and that it expected to be the subject of similar actions in the next few days in the wake of its October 9, 2008 petition filed with a Mexico City bankruptcy court seeking creditor protection (concurso mercantil).  The report said that Barclays, Goldman Sachs Group, and Merrill Lynch had filed similar lawsuits against CCM.

As Mexico Law Blog reported on October 27 and 29, 2008, CCM’s October 9, 2008 bankruptcy filing was rejected by the Mexican bankruptcy court for undisclosed reasons; following the rejection, the company announced plans to immediately file a new petition, which it did on October 28 or 29, 2008.  No news has been issued confirming the acceptance or rejection by the Mexican bankruptcy court of the company’s new petition.

In October 2008, CCM’s debt inflated to US$2 billion following huge losses on exchange-rate derivative bets against the dollar, according to a Reuters report.  CCM said in late October that it had obtained loans worth up to MX$3.327 billion to continue paying suppliers.  One of the loans, for up to MX$3 billion, is guaranteed by Mexican development bank Nacional Financiera (NAFIN).