Fitch hit with record ESMA fine for conflict of interest breach

Took place between 2013 and 2018

Anna Fedorova
clock • 1 min read

The European Union's markets regulator has fined ratings agency Fitch Ratings a record €5.13m (£4.4m) for breaching rules around avoiding conflicts of interest.

According to Reuters, ESMA said the breach took place between June 2013 and April 2018, when 20% of the ratings agency's subsidiaries in the UK, France and Spain were indirectly owned by the same individual through a France-based entity. At the same time, this unnamed shareholder was also sitting on the boards of three entities being rated by these Fitch subsidiaries, according to ESMA. The ratings agency said none of these breaches impacted the outcome of the ratings and believes it acted in good faith when interpreting EU laws on disclosing the indentity of shareholders. Fitch Ra...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Regulation

Trustpilot