Thiam’s $35.5 Billion Secret Deal Ignites U.K. Regulator’s Wrath

On Feb. 12, 2010, Prudential Plc Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam offered $35.5 billion for AIA Group Ltd. in what would have been the firm’s biggest acquisition funded by the U.K.’s largest share sale. The same day he met the country’s regulator and didn’t mention the deal.

That meeting was the focus of a three-year row between the U.K.’s biggest insurer and the Financial Services Authority that came to a head yesterday when Thiam was punished for a “serious” breach of conduct. The Ivory Coast-born French national, who has almost doubled Prudential’s share price since taking charge in 2009, contested the FSA’s findings, saying they were unwarranted and posed a “grave threat” to his reputation and career before settling.