The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking Putnam Investments to pay penalties of several hundred million dollars for improper trading as another money manager Janus Capital prepares to settle with regulators, according to a story in the New York Times on Wednesday.
Referring to a Putnam legal filing in response to the SEC, the Times cited Putnam, a unit of Marsh & McLennan, as saying the U.S. regulators proposed fine was too big relative to its actions and "a transparent attempt to find a way to reach a headline-making number."
An administrative judge set to hear arguments from both sides next month, could ultimately decide on a much lower figure the story said citing a person briefed on the talks.
Janus Capital, another company tainted by the recent mutual fund trading scandal, could reach a settlement with regulators as early as the end of the month, the story said citing people briefed on the negotiations.
The amount Janus will pay as part of the settlement is likely to be smaller than any settlement reached to date in the fund trading cases, the story said citing the unnamed people.
The story follows Putnam's release on Tuesday of a report examining its actions in relation to the ongoing mutual fund trading scandal. The Putnam report said top executives knew about but failed to stop improper trading several years ago.
Putnam reached a partial settlement with the SEC in November, with the amount of the penalties left to be determined, the story said.
The SEC said the amount Putnam pays should be weighed against the assets investors have pulled from the fund company since the improper trading became public. And as of Dec. 31, investors had withdrawn more than $54 billion, the story said citing a an SEC filing.
Putnam and Janus were not immediately available to comment.
