Former German stockmarket high flyers, brothers Thomas and Florian Haffa were found guilty yesterday (Tuesday) of misrepresenting their previous company, EM.TV's financial figures in 2000 in order to influence the share price.

The Munich division for criminal matters imposed a fine of Euros 1.2m on Thomas Haffa and one of Euros 240,000 on his brother Florian - a judgement greeted by shareholder interest groups as giving a clear statement that "one should be liable for what one says and does".

According to German press reports, both the Haffas' legal counsel and state prosecutor Peter Noll are considering appeals against the decision by judge Huberta Knoeringer.