purchase of shares and comple bag

PARIS--French luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton affordable Chanel bag SA (MC.FR) announced Tuesday its decision to not appeal the eight million-euro fine imposed by France's stock market watchdog for failing to comply with rules when it accumulated a significant stake in Hermes International SCA (RMS.FR). "This decision reflects LVMH's commitment to ensuring the soundest possible management of its investment in Hermes," the company said in a statement while reiterating its disagreement with the body's ruling. The move to drop proceedings comes around two months after the Autorite des Marches Financiers, or AMF, slapped a record fine on the world's largest luxury goods

company for misleading markets by not disclosing information about its stake in Hermes earlier.and, which represents Hermes in the case against Da Milano, is fighting another case on behalf of French brand Louis Vuitton against a little-known retailer, which is allegedly selling "counterfeit products" it bought from an auction held by Customs authorities. Pravin Anand, managing partner at Anand & Anand, says the growth of counterfeit business is directly proportional to the amount of fear brands are able to generate in the minds of the perpetrators. His clients also include Cartier, Chanel, Prada, Burberry, Christian Dior and Mont Blanc. Popular brands such as Gucci, Police, Louis Vuitton (mainly purses), Bvlgari diamonds, Rolex watches and Prada dresses are counterfeited and Gucci message bagsold widely in India. Many such products come from China. That's not all - one can find luxury brands even in product categories not manufactured by the original brands. One such example is Harley Davidson deodorants. "A Mumbai-based company was selling Harley Davidson deodorants across India not only to wholesalers but also in modern retail, which gave an impression to consumers that the products were genuine," says Rajan Narula, managing partner at Intellectual Property Attorneys, a Gurgaon-based law firm that took up the iconic motorcycle maker's case. It also helped Burberry in tracking down and conducting raids at outlets selling fakes in places like Chennai. The watchdog's decision to investigate LVMH's actions dates back to 2010 after the luxury goods giant stunned Hermes by revealing that it had obtained a 17.1%

stake in its smaller rival through the direct purchase of shares and complex derivatives known as equity swaps, market instruments that allow investors to bet on movements of a share price without actually owning the shares. The AMF's sanctions committee said in late June that the fine reflected the vGucci tote bag "seriousness of the successive breaches of public disclosure requirements which consisted in concealing each stage of LVMH's stake building in Hermes." In Tuesday's statement, LVMH gave little indication of the motivation behind its about-turn--the company having initially expressed plans to appeal--saying that it would be "entirely justified in appealing.