SEC Sanctions Fund Administrator, Accountant

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a cease-and-desist order against Unified Fund Services, a transfer agency, fund administration and accounting firm, and its former vice president of fund accounting, Michael E. Durham. The firm has also been ordered to pay a $125,000 civil penalty.

The SEC found that Unified Fund Services erroneously recorded the call dates for certain government agency bonds in the Liquid Green Money Market Fund as their maturity dates. Call dates are the dates, prior to maturity, when a callable bond may be redeemed. As a result, Unified caused the Liquid Green Money Market Fund to appear as a money market fund even though it did not meet the SEC's risk-limited conditions.

The SEC also found that for another fund, the Florida Street Bond Fund, Unified overstated the interest due on bonds in that portfolio, thereby causing the fund to have an inaccurate net asset value.

Finally, the SEC found that Unified Fund Services caused a number of its clients to file reports with the Commission late or not at all.