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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

UK's Prudential fined 30 million stg for secret AIA bid plans, (NYSE: PUK)

Prudential Plc has been fined 30 million pounds ($45.5 million) and had its CEO publicly censured for failing to inform Britain's financial watchdog about an ill-fated Asian takeover.The fine, one of the heaviest dished out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), rekindles bitter memories of a costly misjudgement which Britain's biggest insurer and its Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam are keen to consign to the past.The FSA said the abortive $35.5 billion takeover of AIA in 2010 would have transformed the company and could have damaged the stability and confidence of the financial system in the UK and abroad."Prudential, led by Thiam as CEO, failed to give due consideration to its obligation to inform the FSA of this transaction, which would have had a huge impact on the group had it gone through," said Tracey McDermott, head of enforcement at the FSA.

Prudential plc (Prudential), is an international financial services group, with operations in Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Shares of PUK fell by 2.89% or $-0.97/share to $32.54. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $20.16 and as high as $35.34. On average, 175907 shares of PUK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 97924.



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