Janus Settlement Expected Soon

Janus Capital Group is close to announcing a settlement over alleged mutual fund trading violations, people close to the talks said Monday. One source said the company would pay more than $200 million in fines and disgorgement of profit.

The settlement is expected to be announced within days, one source said.

Denver-based Janus, which is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings Wednesday, last week said Chief Executive Mark Whiston would resign.

The settlement is expected to be made with New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Colorado Atty. Gen. Ken Salazar, sources said.

One source said that, in addition to fines, the agreement would require Janus to reduce some of the fees its funds charge investors -- a provision Spitzer has required in prior settlements with other fund firms.

Officials at the two attorneys general’s offices and the SEC declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Janus.

The company already has said it would reimburse fund shareholders $31.5 million for alleged abusive trading of its funds. The firm also has taken a series of measures to improve its corporate governance.

The settlement would come seven months after Janus was among the first companies implicated in the trading scandal, after Spitzer unveiled his sweeping probe of the industry.

Spitzer, the SEC and other regulators say more than a dozen fund companies allowed favored investors to engage in short-term trading of fund shares in recent years, to the detriment of long-term investors.

The scandal, which has led half a dozen mutual fund company chief executives to resign, also has claimed several Janus executives and employees.

Steve Scheid, a former executive at Charles Schwab Corp., was named to succeed Whiston as Janus CEO last week.

Janus shares rose 38 cents to $15.55 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.