SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco Holding SA (SA:ITUB4) is questioning a decision by the judge in charge of Odebrecht bankruptcy related to a stake owned by the conglomerate in petrochemical producer Braskem SA (SA:BRKM5), Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico reported on Tuesday.
Itaú has not formally challenged the judge decision, but just asked the judge to reconsider it, Valor said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Odebrecht and Itau did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The case is under seal and not publicly available.
The judge in the case agreed last week with a request by Odebrecht to include the Braskem shares as assets in the bankruptcy.
But Itau and other Odebrecht creditors disagree with the decision because the Braskem stake had been pledged as collateral to loans through a lien, that according to Brazilian bankruptcy law should be excluded from the bankruptcy proceedings.
But the judge agreed to an Odebrecht argument that the Braskem stake is one of the few valuable assets that could help pay creditors in the 98.5 billion-real bankruptcy protection case.
The stake has been pledged as collateral in 2016, when the banks agreed to extend new loans to Odebrecht with the condition of improving their collateral.
($1 = 3.8328 reais)