On January 25, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced the imposition of penalties totaling £7.3M (approximately $11.5M) on David Einhorn and Greenlight Capital Inc. (Greenlight), for market abuse in June 2009 in relation to trading in equities of Punch Taverns plc (Punch).

On June 9, 2009, when 13.3% of Punch’s outstanding equity capital was held by funds managed by Greenlight, Einhorn participated in a forty five minute conference call (the Punch Call) during which it was disclosed to him by a corporate broker acting on behalf of Punch that the company had reached an advanced stage of planning a sizeable equity fundraising. Very shortly after the end of the Punch Call ,Einhorn gave instructions for the sale all of Greenlight’s holding in Punch The FSA Decision Notice states that “Mr. Einhorn decided to sell on the basis of the inside information he received on the Punch Call (albeit not solely on this basis).” Between June 9 and June 12, 2009, Greenlight sold 11.65 million Punch shares, reducing its holding in Punch from 13.3% to 8.98%.

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