Charles A. Jaffe | Why scandals will keep coming

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, January, 2007 | by Charles A. Jaffe

As a mutual-fund shareholder, you wanted to believe there would be no more scandals, that the bad guys had been caught, would be punished, and that the worst was over. You would have been better off believing in the Tooth Fairy. An agreement reached last week between former Putnam Investments top dog Lawrence Lasser and the U.S.

Securities and Exchange Commission shows all too clearly why "minor" scandals will keep happening in the business for years to come. That's an ugly conclusion to draw about the business, but it's the logical supposition in light of the Lasser deal, which scarcely drew a headline when it was made public. Lasser is the only fund company executive charged so far with fraud for authorizing payments to brokers for preferential sales treatment. Putnam paid...