Einhorn and Greenlight fined £7.2m Charismatic US hedge fund manager David Einhorn and his firm, Greenlight Capital, have been fined a total of £7.2m by UK regulators for market abuse for trading ahead of a 2009 equity fundraising by Punch Taverns. Mr Einhorn, who will personally pay £3.6m, is by far the most prominent figure to be ensnared by the UK Financial Services Authority, which has traditionally lagged behind US enforcers in tackling market abuse. His fine is the second largest ever handed down by the FSA to an individual for market abuse. According to the watchdog, Mr Einhorn participated in a June 9 2009 phone call in which Punch's broker told him that Punch Taverns were in the advanced stages of issuing new equity, a step that would almost certainly drive down the pub company's share price. Over the next four days, Greenlight sold 11.65 m shares of the firm, reducing its stake in the pub company from 13.3 per cent to just under 9 per cent. When the transaction was announced, Punch shares fell 29 per cent, so Greenlight avoided a loss of £5.8m. The case is an unusual one because Mr Einhorn had specifically told the Bank of America Merrill Lynch broker he did not want to be "wall crossed" - that is to say given confidential information that would prevent him from trading. In the US, that request would probably have been sufficient to protect him from charges of insider trading. But the UK has a much broader definition of market abuse, and the FSA concluded that Mr Einhorn, as an experienced trader who should have known he was being given "confidential and price-sensitive information" that posed a regulatory risk. The FSA said it recognised that the trading was not deliberate or reckless. But the watchdog said it "considers Mr Einhorn's error of judgement to be a serious failure to act in accordance with the standards reasonably expected of market participants." Mr. Einhorn said in a statement, "We believe that this action is unjust and inconsistent with the law and with prior FSA enforcement precedent. However, rather than continue an arduous fight, we have decided to put this matter behind us and concentrate on managing our business. Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment. The broker involved has resigned. Mr Einhorn is the president and co-founder of Greenlight, which has $7.2bn under management, and has responsibility for all of its investment decisions. At its peak, Greenlight's stake in Punch was worth £55m.