State to Receive $337,500 in Securities Settlement

Vermont to Receive $337,500 in Securities Settlement
with Deutsche Bank Securities and Thomas Weisel Partners
Montpelier, VT (August 26, 2004) - Under the terms of settlements announced today between
securities regulators and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Thomas Weisel
Partners LLC, Vermont stands to receive $337,500 in total fine money upon
final acceptance of the terms of the agreement, said John P. Crowley,
Vermont's Commissioner of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care
Administration (BISHCA). The settlements result from allegations of
conflicts of interest at brokerage houses where analysts recommended
stocks due to improper influence from their investment banking colleagues.
Deutche Bank Securities, Inc. will pay $287,500 and Thomas Weisel Partners
LLC will pay $50,000 in fines.
Commissioner Crowley made the announcement following investigations of the
two firms by the California Department of Corporations, the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, NASD, Inc., and the New York Stock
Exchange. The settlements are related to the April 2003 Global Settlement
that ten other investment banks reached with the state, federal and
industry regulators.
Deutsche Bank will pay a total of $87.5 million: $25 million in
disgorgement, $25 million as a penalty for various conflicts of
interest, $25 million to fund independent research, $5 million to fund and
promote investor education, and $7.5 million for failing to promptly
produce e-mail and thereby delaying by over a year the investigation as to
Deutsche Bank. Thomas Weisel Partners will pay a total of $12.5 million:
$5 million in disgorgement, $5 million as a penalty for various conflicts
of interest, and $2.5 million to fund independent research.
The investigations of Deutsche Bank and Thomas Weisel Partners,
together with the 2003 Global Settlement, are part of a comprehensive
regulatory effort to reform the relationship between investment banking
and research and to manage appropriately conflicts of interest.
Commissioner Crowley said, "Today's settlements represent a significant
step in our continuing efforts to ensure that investors are treated fairly
and provided with objective research."
Under the terms of the settlement, Deutsche Bank is also required to
distribute $2.5 million to the Investor Protection Trust (IPT), which will
use the money to fund investor education initiatives on the state and
national levels. The IPT is an established charitable organization with
experience handling settlement funds and a history of investor education
successes.