(The following appeared at FINalternatives.com on March 12, 2009.)
They may have won the war, but two activist hedge funds have lost a battle with CSX Corp. and one of its shareholders.
The Children’s Investment Fund and 3G Capital Partners have agreed to pay $10 million and $1 million, respectively, to CSX and Deborah Donoghue for breaking short-term trading rules. The settlement was approved last week by a New York federal court.
Donoghue has brought a number of cases accusing investors of violating the “short-swing” rule, with aims to keep owners of stakes larger than 10% in a company and insiders from making money in short-term trading. Last year, TCI and 3G won a bruising proxy battle with CSX, earning four seats on the railroad’s 12-member board of directors.