SECURITIES

Pilgrim CEO Relinquishes One Post: Palomba Weingarten, who chairs Century City-based mutual fund firm Pilgrim Group and its distribution arm Pilgrim Distributors, named James Ash to be chief executive of the latter. Weingarten faces a one-year ban on her association with the distribution unit since a National Assn. of Securities Dealers panel found that she had approved Pilgrim ads containing “misleading or exaggerated statements” about fund performance. The ban, recommended on May 13, is being appealed to a national NASD committee. Ash had been president of the distribution unit, which deals with the independent brokers who sell Pilgrim funds. Weingarten remains CEO of the parent company. Pilgrim also announced that it will voluntarily file its ads with the NASD before they are published.