Franklin Advisers clients to receive $49 million

More than 1 million investors who held mutual funds managed by Franklin Advisers Inc. who were victims of improper market timing will receive roughly $49 million in Fair Fund distribution, the SEC announced today.

More than 1 million investors who held mutual funds managed by Franklin Advisers Inc. who were victims of improper market timing will receive roughly $49 million in Fair Fund distribution, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced today.
Franklin Advisers, a subsidiary of San Mateo, Calif.-based Franklin Resources Inc, will also pay an additional $5.7 million in the Fair Fund, including earned interest, next month.
The penalties stem from SEC charges that Franklin improperly allowed market timing in mutual funds it managed from 1996 to 2001.
“This distribution to more than 1 million recipients reflects the SEC’s commitment to compensating investors harmed by misconduct,” Marc J. Fagel, director of the agency’s San Francisco regional office, said in a statement.
The Fair Fund distribution was a provision introduced in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act that allows the SEC to add civil money penalties to disgorgement funds to those investors who have lost money because of illegal or unethical activities on the part of a company.