Two former Prudential branch managers have admitted to being aware of the timing activities of some of the brokers they supervised in the company's Boston office. However, they say that senior company executives authorized the timing.

In legal documents obtained by the Boston Herald, Michael Vanin and Robert Shannon made these claims and denied that they knowingly allowed brokers to decieve fund firms.

Last month, Massachusetts Secretary of the CommonWealth William Galvin filed civil fraud charges against Vanin, Shannon and three Prudential brokers, claiming they allowed hedge fund clients use improper short-term trades. The SEC has also brought charges against Shannon and several brokers.

In probably the most telling example of the special relationships some fund companies had with their clients, Vanin said in his response that a broker suggested charging clients to time in the early 1990s and Pru senior executives agreed to the new strategy.

Vanin also said that Pru brokers had numerous broker I.D. numbers for legitimate business purposes and were not assigned to allow them decieve mutual fund operators.

Vanin's lawyer, Gary Crossen also said that market timing only accounted for six percent of revenue while he worked there. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE