|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday March 25, 11:52
|
|
World-famous philanthropist fined €2.2 million
(by Brigitta Zulfitzler)
|
|
French appeals court rejected the appeal of George Soros, the Hungarian-born billionaire investor, against his conviction on insider trading in a French bank in 1988.
Pleading no guilty, Mr Soros said: “My reputation is at stake. I have many enemies all over the world, not only in America but in the former Soviet Union and in parts of Asia. The conviction by the lower court was a gift to my enemies and they have already used it.”
However, the court found him guilty of using “precise, confidential information that was liable to affect the price” of Société Générale shares.
The court stated that Mr Soros had been approached by an adviser to the French financier Georges Pebereau, who was planning to take over Société Générale in 1988. Despite Soros’s refusal to join in the raid, he had his Quantum Fund pay $50 million for shares in the bank and in other privatised French companies, the court was told. As Société Générale shares rose from Fr260 to Fr600 and the takeover failed, Mr Soros effectively sold his shares.
The ruling ordered Soros to pay a fine of €2.2 million, equivalent to the profits he made from the transaction.
After the hearing, Maître Jean-Michel Darois, Soros’s lawyer, announced he would appeal to France’s highest tribunal, la Cour de Cassation.
|
|
All banking news
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 KEYWORD SEARCH |
|
|
|
|
|
SUBSCRIPTION |
|
|
|
|
|