(Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg LP was fined 3 million euros ($3.5 million) after a French court ruled that its journalists should have known that a fake press release that sent Vinci SA shares tumbling five years ago was a hoax.
The Paris court of appeals reduced an initial penalty of 5 million euros, according to a ruling published Thursday. The judges ruled that the enforcement committee of the Autorite des Marches Financiers should have taken into account the speed with which Bloomberg News rectified the situation and deleted its publications.
“Our journalists, among others, simply reported on what appeared to be newsworthy information and were the victims of a sophisticated hoax, the perpetrator of which has not yet been found,” a Bloomberg News spokesman said. “We hoped that the court would recognize the issues of press freedom at stake. We are disappointed the court has not overturned the original decision and will consider our options on appeal.”
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