German regulator BaFin dismisses suspicion of insider trading in Daimler shares

Aug 24 (Reuters) – German market watchdog BaFin said on Tuesday it had found no evidence to continue an investigation into insider trading in the shares of automaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE), including the purchase of a stake in Britain’s Aston Martin (AML.L) by Formula 1 boss Mercedes.

BaFin looked into the trade with German Daimler and passed on information to his UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) counterparts regarding the Aston Martin stock trade, with the FCA also finding no evidence to sue. an investigation, the Financial Times newspaper reported earlier.

“I can confirm that BaFin examined the transaction for possible suspicion of insider trading (on Daimler securities), but found no clue,” BaFin spokesman said in a press release sent by email.

Daimler said he had no comment. FCA and Aston Martin did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment.

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff, who owns around a third of the Mercedes team, bought shares in luxury carmaker Aston Martin in April last year.

Mercedes’ parent company Daimler also owns a minority stake in Aston Martin.

Wolff bought a 0.95% stake in Aston Martin from a vehicle controlled by Lawrence Stroll, executive chairman of the British automaker, according to the FT.

The following month, Aston Martin appointed Tobias Moers, the former head of Mercedes’ AMG business, as CEO. In October, Daimler announced it would increase its stake in Aston Martin to 20% by 2023.

Mercedes F1 said Wolff was not aware of any of the plans when he acquired the shares and that “all relevant disclosures were made to UK financial authorities at the appropriate time,” according to the FT. Wolff did not acquire or trade Daimler stocks or securities last year, the newspaper added.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler and Richard Pullin

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