Berkshire Hathaway fined over reporting requirements

Berkshire Hathaway has been fined $896,000 by the US Department of Justice for allegedly violating premerger reporting and waiting requirements.

The company agreed to pay to settle accusations that it did not follow antitrust guidelines when it acquired voting securities of USG Corp, a manufacturer of construction materials.

Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, said: “As has been reported today, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. consented to a Final Judgment whereby we agreed to pay a civil penalty of $896,000 for failure to comply with the premerger reporting and waiting requirements of the Hart-Scott Rodino Act.

“We made a mistake when we overlooked the filing requirement. Berkshire had owned convertible notes of USG since 2008 and was effectively forced to convert the notes when they were called for redemption by USG in December 2013. This event triggered a filing requirement for Berkshire and we were late in realising that fact.”