98 Top Firms to Pay Fines Over Sale of Bonds

Nearly 100 of the nation’s top banks and securities firms will pay a total of almost $5.2 million in fines for widespread inflating of customer orders for quasi-government agency bonds, federal regulators said Thursday.

The companies, which neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, agreed to halt any violations in the sale of bonds issued by government-sponsored agencies such as the Federal National Mortgage Assn., or Fannie Mae.

The banks and securities firms also agreed to correct record-keeping procedures and to pay $5.16 million in fines to the government.

Some of the nation’s largest banks--Bank of America and the Mellon Bank--and some of the biggest names on Wall Street--Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Nomura Securities International--were among the 98 included in the settlement.

“We uncovered a practice that was nearly universal,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard C. Breeden told a news conference.

With the exception of one small firm that is still under investigation, all of the firms accused of wrongdoing had agreed to the settlement, Breeden said.