FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German markets regulator BaFin has found that transactions to buy a 9.69 percent Daimler stake on behalf of Geely chairman Li Shufu did not meet German disclosure rules, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley should have disclosed its transactions on Feb. 22, 2018 rather than on Feb. 23, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said, quoting a letter written on behalf of German finance ministry official Christine Lambrecht.
BaFin, which is overseen by Germany’s finance ministry, was not immediately available for comment. A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Morgan Stanley was part of a group of banks which helped Geely’s chairman buy a stake in German carmaker Daimler in a way which skirted disclosure rules.
Violating disclosure rules can carry a penalty of up to two million euros for individuals, and up to ten percent of annual revenues for corporations.
Geely said it had informed markets in a timely fashion. “The capital market was at all times informed about the correct number of voting rights,” Geely said in a statement.
“However, BaFin has asked Geely to make an additional disclosure for 22 February 2018 based on a new interpretation of the legal provisions by BaFin which was published for the first time on 9 May 2018,” Geely said.
Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Alexander Smith