Janus Hires General Counsel/Public Affairs Officer

July 26, 2004, 1:00 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

Janus Capital Group Inc. has hired John H. Bluher, 46, to be a senior vice president and its general counsel and chief public affairs officer, starting Aug. 23.

The Denver mutual fund company plucked Bluher from Knight Trading Group Inc. in Jersey City, where he was an executive vice president and the general counsel and director of risk management. Thomas M. Joyce, Knights chief executive officer and president, thanked Bluher in a press release for bringing it "to the latest stage in the regulatory process related to the companys recently announced agreement in principle with the staffs" of the SEC and NASD in connection with institutional trading activity.

Bluher will be a member of the executive committee at Janus, which has also reached a regulatory settlement in the mutual fund trading scandals. Janus CEO Steve Scheid said in a release that his new general counsel would "be charged with helping us establish and articulate prudent legal, governance and compliance standards that reinforce our commitment to putting our fund holders first.

Bluher joined Knight as general counsel in June 2002, and the regulatory agreements in principle were announced this July 7. He was senior counsel to the SECs enforcement division from 1987 to 1992.

Knight supplies trade execution services in equities and derivatives for institutional and broker/dealer clients.