West Virginia AG Takes On Bank One

The mutual fund group of Bank One, which reached a settlement last year with New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of trading abuses, is now being sued by West Virginia.

According to The Associated Press, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell V. McGraw Jr. has filed suit against Bank One Investment Advisors on grounds that its investment advisers allowed rapid trading and late trading in its mutual funds. The state attorney also alleges that the money manager improperly disclosed fund holdings.

Bank One, a division of New York banking giant JPMorgan Chase, revealed the lawsuit in a regulatory filing last week. The suit, which claims that Bank One advisers violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit Protection Act, was filed on April 11.

McGraw filed a similar suit against Denver-based Janus Capital last month.

As part of its settlement with regulators last year, Bank One agreed to pay $50 million in fines and restitution and lower its fees by $40 million over five years. Janus is also rebounding from the scandal, having reached a $226.2 million settlement with the state of Colorado and the SEC last year.