SEC Approves Fund Settlement With Janus

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday formally approved Janus Capital Group Inc.’s $100-million settlement over mutual fund trading allegations.

Janus, a Denver-based mutual fund company, agreed in April to pay the money to settle claims by New York and Colorado regulators that Janus let favored clients engage in improper trading that hurt other investors.

At the time, the SEC agreed to the $100-million payment in a preliminary accord that required approval by the agency’s five commissioners.

The SEC settlement contains a new allegation, accusing Janus of letting one unnamed firm make more than 500 trades that included total purchases of more than $2.5 billion.

By the summer of 2003 the firm had as much as $263 million invested in Janus funds at any given time, the SEC said.

SEC and Janus officials declined to name the firm.

SEC legal papers say the firm invested in the Janus Mercury Fund as a result of a friendship between a Janus manager and an unnamed principal at the firm.