Share

Berkshire Hathaway fined for lax reporting

New York - US antitrust officials have fined Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway $896 000 for failing to notify regulators ahead of a large securities acquisition in December 2013.

Berkshire agreed to pay the civil penalty to resolve the case over the December 2013 purchase, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The settlement must be approved by a US court.

"We made a mistake when we overlooked the filing requirement," Buffett said in a statement.

The company ran afoul of US antitrust requirements when it failed to file papers announcing a purchase of securities in building products company USG that ended up taking its overall stake in USG to more than $950m.

Federal law requires Berkshire to provide advanced notification to regulators of purchases that lift its holding in another entity to more than $283.6m, the justice department said.

The rule is intended to give antitrust regulators an opportunity to determine whether to block deals that may flout antitrust laws.

Berkshire, a holding company with stakes across many sectors, previously violated the notification requirement with a June 2013 purchase of shares in life insurer Symetra Financial that took its holdings to more than $310m.

Buffett said Berkshire's USG securities stake grew when USG redeemed convertible notes that Berkshire had originally purchased in 2008.

Berkshire "was effectively forced to convert the notes when they were called for redemption by USG in December 2013," Buffett said.

"This event triggered a filing requirement for Berkshire and we were late in realizing that fact."

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.93
+0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.90
+0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.41
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders