Banc One Investment Advisors Confirms Mutual Funds Settlement Agreements
30 Juni 2004 - 12:44AM
PR Newswire (US)
Banc One Investment Advisors Confirms Mutual Funds Settlement
Agreements CHICAGO, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banc One
Investment Advisors today confirmed it has entered into settlement
agreements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and
the New York Attorney General's office over certain issues related
to trading in One Group mutual funds. These agreements provide for
the following key provisions: -- Banc One Investment Advisors
agrees to pay $10 million in total disgorgement and restitution and
$40 million as a penalty, under both the SEC and Attorney General's
agreements. The entire $50 million will be placed into an escrow
account to be distributed to eligible shareholders through a plan
to be created by an independent consultant and approved by the SEC
and the independent One Group Board of Trustees. Payment will
likely occur in 2005. -- Banc One Investment Advisors will reduce
advisory fees by $8 million per year for five years and agree not
to raise advisory fees for five years, under the Attorney General's
agreement. "Soon after we first learned of these investigations, we
committed to cooperate with regulators, make restitution to
shareholders, and review and change our policies, as appropriate,"
said David J. Kundert, Chairman and CEO of Banc One Investment
Advisors. "The monetary and governance actions outlined in these
agreements build upon the controls and policies we initiated last
fall to fulfill that commitment. Strong procedures are now in place
to further protect the interests of our mutual fund shareholders
and prevent a recurrence of similar issues in the future." Banc One
Investment Advisors is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Bank
One Corporation ( http://www.bankone.com/ ), the nation's
sixth-largest bank holding company, with assets of $320 billion.
Bank One currently has more than 51 million credit cards issued,
nearly 7 million retail households, and approximately 20,000 middle
market customers. It also manages $188 billion of clients'
investment assets. DATASOURCE: Bank One Corporation CONTACT: Thomas
Kelly, +1-312-732-7007, or Julie Crothers, +1-312-732-1564, both of
Banc One Web site: http://www.bankone.com/
Copyright