LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Neil Woodford, one of Britain'smost high-profile fund managers, said he has sold his fund'sstake in banking group HSBC, citing concerns over thepotential impact on the company of several industry-wide probes.
"In particular, I am worried that the ongoing investigationinto the historic manipulation of Libor and foreign exchangemarkets could expose HSBC to significant financial penalties,"he said in a blog posting on his fund's website.
"Not only are these potentially serious offences in the eyesof the regulator, but HSBC is very able to pay a substantialfine."
Woodford, a favourite among investors due to his strongperformance track record, said the size of any potential finewas unquantifiable and therefore represented an unquantifiablerisk.
"Nevertheless, a substantial fine could hamper HSBC'sability to grow its dividend, in my view. I have therefore soldthe fund's position in HSBC, reinvesting the proceeds into partsof the portfolio in which I have greater conviction," he added.
CF Woodford Equity Income Fund had 2.68 percent of itsassets in HSBC shares at the end of July, according to thefund's factsheet.
Woodford left Invesco Perpetual earlier this year to set uphis own company. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Simon Jessop)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)