US Wall Street bank JPMorgan Chase has received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting information on its dealings with Bisys Fund Services. Bisys has recently agreed to pay a USD21.4 million settlement to the SEC due to charges that it had paid kickbacks to fund companies in order to secure contracts for fund services.
The SEC says that more than USD230 million was paid by Bisys to fund managers between 1999 and 2004 in agreements that were not disclosed to either the funds’ boards or shareholders. It is believed that the current investigation is connected, with the SEC requesting details of services provided to Bank One mutual funds, now under the control of JPMorgan.
According to JPMorgan, a Bisys affiliate called the Group One Services Company provided services to Bank One until 2000. The SEC said that several other fund companies were also still under investigation, although they have not been named.