Hancock pays $21.2M to settle inquiry

John Hancock Life Insurance Co. agreed yesterday to pay $21.2 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of the Boston-based fund company's failure to disclose certain revenue sharing schemes, according to an SEC statement. The payment includes disgorgement, prejudgement interest, and civil monetary penalty. Washington-based SEC ruled that Hancock, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corp. in Toronto, from 2001 to 2004 used brokerage commissions to pay for affiliated distributors' marketing expenses without making the practice public.