The Boston mutual fund giant said last week that it disciplined 14 traders in its investment arm and that two more have left the company as a result of an internal investigation. De Sano was among the list of disciplined traders, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. He was fined, in part, for failing to supervise some of his employees, the newspaper report said. De Sano will remain at his job "now and in the future," a Fidelity spokeswoman told the Journal.
Additionally, the two traders who supposedly left the company, Robert Burns and Thomas Bruderman, Jr., were fired, the newspaper said. Fidelitys disciplinary actions in also included fines, warnings and suspensions. Fidelity has said that none of the violations uncovered harmed any of its mutual funds or their shareholders.
The move comes as the
The NASD bars brokers from giving or receiving gifts worth more than $100. Mutual funds are not bound by any specific restrictions on gifts but it is considered a best practice to have similar rules in place. The SEC does, however, require mutual funds to award brokers business based on best execution, which would preclude funds from trading with the firms who gave the best gifts.
De Sano has been a vocal critic of what he believes to be the inefficiencies of the
Fidelitys trading costs, once on par with other fund shops are now lower than 85% of the industry, according to data provided by research firm
The NASD is currently looking into several golf outings arranged for De Sano by
De Sano reportedly received permission to attend the golf outing provided that he paid his own travel expenses. However, De Sano did not reimburse BoA for his spot in the tourney, for which the greens fee alone costs $9,500 per golfer. On top of that, many participating firms often purchase hospitality packages for their guests, which include VIP passes and a chalet along the fairway. These packages vary in price but can cost up to $150,000, a tournament spokesman told MME last week.