BlackRock: Hedge Fund Giant Gets $15 Million Fine

Date: Thursday, September 13, 2012
Author: Alex Akesson, HedgeCo.Net

BlackRock has been fined £9.5 million ($15 million) by the UK Financial Services Authority. The worlds biggest asset manager is said to have failed to follow rules protecting clients money, Reuters reported.

The problem occurred after BlackRock bought Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Limited (now called BIM) in 2006.

“The amount of client cash affected by the failure averaged more than £1.36 billion daily between October 2006 and March 2010,” the FSA said. ”Despite being part of one of the largest asset managers in the world, BIM’s systems were simply not adequate.”

“New York-headquartered BlackRock said it had reported the error to the FSA after identifying the issue through an internal review. It has since taken steps to ensure it has robust systems and controls in place, including establishing a dedicated team to oversee its obligations to clients’ money.” Reuters said.

The FSA said that the error was not deliberate and no clients had suffered a loss.

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net
alex@hedgeco.net