WAMCO to pay $21 million to settle SEC charges

Western Asset Management Co. will pay $21 million to settle charges involving internal cross-trading and coding errors resulting in losses to institutional investors, the SEC announced Monday. The settlement concludes an investigation that also involved the Labor Department because of allegedly improper allocation losses related to the coding error that were not disclosed to WAMCO's institutional ERISA clients, officials for the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. The cross-trading charges involved activity during the financial crisis that SEC officials claimed deprived selling clients of some savings. Mary Athridge, spokeswoman for parent Legg Mason Inc., said in an interview the company was glad to resolve the issue. (Pensions & Investments)