SEC Kickback Probe Extends to HighMark Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into kickbacks from fund administration companies to 27 mutual fund firms in an attempt to secure their business has extended to HighMark Funds, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a filing with the SEC.

A spokeswoman for the Union Bank of California, which runs the funds, said the vendor in question in HighMark’s case is SEI Investments. SEI indicated in a filing over the summer that the SEC was investigating it, but a spokesman declined comment for The Journal.

The SEC’s probe into the 27 fund companies is stemming from a $21.4 million settlement with BISYS.