September 16, 2019

Two subsidiaries of Prudential Financial, Inc., AST Investment Services Inc. and PGIM Investments LLC, will pay a civil monetary penalty of $5 million and disgorge $27.6 million to resolve charges that they failed to disclose a conflict of interest that arose between the subsidiaries, which served as investment advisors to 94 insurance-dedicated mutual funds, and Prudential, following a 2006 reorganization.  The reorganization was designed so that Prudential could receive certain tax benefits, but resulted in increased costs to the funds, which were not disclosed to the funds’ boards of trustees of the beneficial owners of the funds’ shares.  Prudential had previously reimbursed the funds for $155 million, and AST and PI self-reported to the SEC.  SEC

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Regulatory Violations, Securities Fraud,