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Financial regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. have hit fund manager Martin Currie with a combined $14 million in fines, in a conflict-of-interest case that relates to the exit of a portfolio manager in Asia last year. The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority today issued a GBP3.5 million penalty after finding that Martin Currie failed to manage a conflict of interest relating to investments in Asia by of its two clients. At the same time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission slapped the asset manager with an $8.3 million charge in the case, which involved an investment fund in the U.S. The U.K. regulator said that Martin Currie did not properly scrutinize the valuation or rationale of an approximately GBP15 million bond investment it advised one of its clients, Fund B, to make in April 2009. The unlisted bond was issued by an offshore Chinese firm and, according to the FSA, was “a poor investment choice” that halved in value over the subsequent two years.

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