Prudential Settles Texas Case, to Pay $1.5 Million

Prudential Securities Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay $1.5 million in fines and temporarily suspend business in Texas to settle state securities law violations.

Texas was the lone holdout last October when state and federal securities regulators announced a $371-million settlement with Prudential. The agreement resolved charges that predecessor firm Prudential-Bache deceived investors in its sale of limited partnerships in the 1980s.

Under the agreement with the Texas Securities Board, Prudential will pay a fine of $1 million, in addition to a $500,000 fine that was Texas’ share of the October agreement. Prudential also agreed not to solicit new accounts from its Dallas office for 20 days and not to solicit new accounts elsewhere in Texas for a concurrent five-day period.

Hardwick Simmons, president and chief executive of Prudential Securities, said the sanctions do not affect the day-to-day operations of some 90,000 existing accounts in Texas.

“Most importantly, this agreement with Texas means all 50 states are now parties to our global settlement and allows us to move forward with the business of the firm,” Simmons said in a statement.