I work on the fringe of the securities industry, which, as you know, does not have a stellar reputation for ethical behavior. Here is yet another case in point:
The headline to a story in USA Today says, "Hartford apologizes for secret payments to brokers, settles fraud probe for $20M." Apparently the New York attorney general got a tip that Harford "was making ‘secret payments’ to insurance brokers to recommend Hartford group annuities to pension plans."
Secret payments? Why not call them what they really are? I don’t know whether bribes or kickbacks is the proper term, but there is nothing secret about them. The illegal payments certainly are not secret to people at Hartford. The payments certainly are not secret to the brokers who are receiving them. Them boys knowed what they was doing.
Apparently the scheme generated additional sales volume of $800 million over six years, and now Hartford is apologizing and giving back $20 million. Ahhhh.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you why this sticks in my craw.
» Here We Go Again, Another Investment Company Caught Making So-Called “Secret Payments” from CoreCharacter
Here’s why this deal sticks in my craw. I mean look at the news. There seems to be so much corruption in the investment industry that we take it for granted. We are not surprised. And these companies know this.... [Read More]
Tracked on: May 11, 2006 7:27 AM | Permalink to Trackback