Janus Capital is again battling charges related to market-timing and after-hours trading. But this time, Janus says West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraws suit is precluded by settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other state regulators.
The key underlying issues in the West Virginia complaint are duplicative of earlier filed actions and have been resolved, a Janus spokesperson told Associated Press. Janus intends to contest this filing vigorously.
However, Fran Hughes, chief deputy attorney general in West Virginia, asserted that the state was pushed to file its own lawsuit because the SECs settlement did not go far enough.
A lot of times we feel that SEC enforcement doesnt really fully compensate the states for their losses, Hughes said.
However, even if McGraws suit is successful, it may not fatten local investors wallets by much, said Jake Zamansky, securities fraud attorney at Zamansky & Assoc.
While the action is probably warranted by the attorney general, the ordinary investor will not be getting much in the way of compensation, probably just enough to buy a hamburger at McDonalds or a cup of coffee at Starbucks, Zamansky said.
The other firms named in the suit include: AIM Advisors and its Invesco Funds Group subsidiary, Fred Alger Management, Alliance Capital Management, Franklin Advisers, Massachusetts Financial Services, Pilgrim Baxter & Assoc., Strong Capital Management and various PIMCO units.
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