U.K. FCA Said to Review BGC Pre-Bid Stake Purchase in GFI
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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is looking into whether interdealer broker BGC Partners Inc. erred in not notifying the regulator that it crossed a critical threshold in buying shares of GFI Group Inc. ahead of a takeover bid, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
BGC has been adding to its stake in GFI, going from 3.5 percent at the end of July to almost 13.5 percent when it offered $675 million in cash in September for its fellow New York-based rival, GFI. Because GFI has a U.K.-regulated unit, BGC should have notified the FCA that it had become a controller by owning more than 10 percent.