Regulator fines Irish Times €10k

THE Financial Regulator has fined The Irish Times €10,000 for breach of its Market Abuse Regulations that went into effect on July 6, 2005. The fine relates to an article in the paper’s Croesus column in the Friday business supplement. The material was published on February 8, where the unnamed writer tipped Ryanair’s shares.

Under latest regulations, shares cannot be tipped anonymously in newspaper or magazine articles.

Those who do offer share advice have to be identified and are also obliged to declare if they have any interest in the shares or if they have any other association with the company whose shares are being tipped. This is the second time the Regulator fined a publication for breach of its rules — the Phoenix magazine was the first to fall victim of the new law for a similar breach and it was hit with a €6,000 penalty recently.

The difference in the two fines was due to the difference in circulation between the two publications.

Last night the newspaper’s business editor, John McManus, said the paper had no further comment to make beyond what the statement said.

Croesus was a 6th century BC king of Lyndia (modern Turkey) who built a successful economic model. By replacing commodities like salt or cattle with small round ingots Croesus prime-pumped the economy. The wealth of the state became legendary giving rise to the expression “rich as Croesus”.