SEC queries major financial firms in ‘pay to play’ probe
The Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded its “pay to play” investigation into suspect finders fees made to placement agents who help asset managers secure pension fund business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded its “pay to play” investigation into suspect finders fees made to placement agents who help asset managers secure pension fund business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In recent weeks, the agency has requested information from firms such as The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Credit Suisse Group AG; UBS AG and Bank of America Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
“The requests are part of our broader “pay to play” investigation,” SEC spokesman John Nester wrote in an e-mail.
The SEC is also seeking information from more than two dozen pension fund managers, placement agents and other intermediaries, and is interested in finder’s fees and other payments, and the work done in exchange for those payments.”
The regulator and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have conducted a two-year investigation into alleged abuses involving the New York state pension fund, resulting in charges against several individuals in recent months. The attorney general has also expanded the probe, the Journal reported.
When contacted, representatives for UBS AG, The Credit Suisse Group and Bank of America Merrill Lynch had no comment.
A representative for Goldman Sachs was not immediately available for comment.
Learn more about reprints and licensing for this article.
