BlackRock hit by record €3.2bn fine by Germany's financial regulator

LONDON (ShareCast) - Investment management firm BlackRock (NYSE: BLK - news) was fined a record €3.25m (£2.36m) by German financial authority BaFin. The financial watchdog said it had fined the world's largest asset manager by assets under management for misrepresenting its stakes in 48 of Germany's biggest companies, including Allianz SE (Other OTC: ALIZF - news) and Deutsche Bank AG (Xetra: 514000 - news) .

The fine is the largest financial penalty ever imposed by the Germany's financial regulator, which was recently given power to impose fines of up to €1m for each occasion that sees an investor violate notification rules on voting rights.

In September, BlackRock amended information on its holdings at the 48 firms after a review conducted with BaFin showed that "individual disclosures made in the past were not correct or had been omitted." In a statement on Friday, the group said it accepted the fine and that it was "pleased to have fully resolved" the matter.

BlackRock shares were up 1.56% to $375.71 at 11:00 in New York on Friday.