UK watchdog fines ex-broker over market abuse
Feb 16, 2012, 6:19 PM
LONDON (AP) – Britain’s market regulator says an ex-corporate broker has been fined 350,000 pounds (US$552,540) for supplying inside information to a high-profile hedge fund manager.
The Financial Services Authority said Thursday that Andrew Osborne, formerly a managing director in corporate broking at Merrill Lynch International _ now Bank of America Merrill Lynch International _ tipped off David Einhorn and his U.S.-based Greenlight Capital Inc. in 2009.
In a phone call, Osborne indicated leading British pub operator Punch Taverns PLC would begin raising money by issuing new shares. Within minutes, Einhorn’s firm dumped millions of the company’s shares.
Einhorn and Greenlight Capital Inc. have been fined 7.2 million pounds ($11.2 million) for trading on inside information.
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