The Financial Services Authority has fined companies in the Prudential group a total of £30 million (about $45 million) for breaching FSA Principles and UK Listing Authority Listing Principles.

The fines relate to Prudential’s failure to inform the FSA that it was seeking to acquire AIA, the Asian subsidiary of US financial crisis victim AIG, until after it had been leaked to the media on 27 February 2010. The FSA has also censured Tidjane Thiam, Prudential’s group chief executive.

Prudential failed to disclose the proposed transaction even when, at a meeting between the FSA and Prudential executives on 12 February 2010, the FSA asked detailed questions about Prudential’s strategy for growth in the Asian market and its plans for raising equity and debt capital.

The proposed transaction involved a planned rights issue of £14.5 billion, which would have been the biggest ever in the UK and had the potential to impact on the stability and confidence of the financial system in the UK and abroad.

The FSA considers that Prudential wrongly allowed its judgement to be overly influenced by its concern about the risk of leaks. This concern meant Prudential failed to give due weight to the importance of complying with its regulatory obligations, even when explicitly advised by its own advisors of the importance of keeping the regulator informed.