By Eyk Henning
FRANKFURT--German financial watchdog BaFin on Friday slapped a
record fine of EUR3.25 million ($3.5 million) on BlackRock Inc. for
misrepresenting its stakes in almost 50 of the country's largest
companies over several years.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager by assets under
management, restated its holdings in the relevant companies last
September. At the time, it said a review conducted with BaFin led
to its having to amend information on voting rights and holdings in
financial instruments "since individual disclosures made in the
past were not correct or had been omitted."
BlackRock corrected disclosures on its holdings in 48 companies
listed on Germany's benchmark DAX and midcap MDAX indexes,
including Allianz SE and Deutsche Bank AG.
"BlackRock accepts the fine announced today and is pleased to
have fully resolved this matter," the company said in a
statement.
The BlackRock fine is the largest BaFin has ever imposed, and
comes after recent regulatory changes gave it the power to impose
fines of up to EUR1 million ($1.06 million) for each instance in
which an investor violates notification rules on voting rights.
Critics have in the past labeled the regulator as toothless,
while lawyers have criticized Germany's disclosure rules as
complex.
BlackRock has been punished for misrepresenting stakes in
European companies before. Italian regulator Consob last summer
imposed a EUR150,000 fine on BlackRock for misrepresenting its
stake in lender UniCredit SpA back in 2011.
BlackRock's assets under management grew to $4.65 trillion at
the end of December, largely due to asset appreciation and inflows
to its exchange-traded funds.
BlackRock currently holds around 6.2% in Deutsche Bank, and is
the largest investor in German blue-chip companies included in the
DAX, the investor relations association, DIRK, said in a note
published last June.
Write to Eyk Henning at eyk.henning@wsj.com
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