$31 Million Paid to Investors With Texas Firm

The insurance fund that protects investors if their brokerage goes bankrupt has paid a record $31 million to restore stocks and cash to about 9,700 investors nationwide who were allegedly bilked by a Texas securities firm. The Securities Investor Protection Corp. plans to announce today the payment--its biggest since it was created by Congress in 1970--to make whole the customers of the now-bankrupt and defunct Sunpoint Securities Inc. The accounts of the 9,738 Sunpoint customers in 50 states have been transferred to other brokerage firms. SIPC said it acted so quickly that most of the investors did not need to file claim forms, and most accounts were transferred by the end of last year. Liquidation proceedings for Sunpoint began in November.