CHARLOTTE, N.C. Prudential employees are fired

Companies make changes as part of mutual fund probes.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Prudential Securities has forced out a dozen employees at offices in Massachusetts and New York related to the company's probe of improper mutual fund trading, a person familiar with the matter said.
The trading, which involves market timing that tries to capitalize on short-term movements in stock prices, is not illegal. But it goes against the rules of most mutual fund companies, which try to manage funds with a long-term perspective.
The two office managers -- one in Boston, one in Long Island -- and 10 brokers in offices in Boston, Long Island and Manhattan, were subjects of an internal probe of improper trades involving market timing, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Asked to resign
The employees were asked to resign, the source said.
The offices are owned by Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp., which in July completed a merger of its retail brokerage operations with those of Prudential Financial Inc., creating one of the nation's largest brokerage firms. The new firm is known as Wachovia Securities, though offices continue to operate under the Prudential name.
Tony Mattera, a spokesman for Richmond, Va.-based Wachovia Securities, said the company would not comment publicly on personnel matters.
Meanwhile, Janus Capital Group plans to return about $1 million in fees it made from short-term trading to the affected funds, Mark Whiston, the Denver-based company's chief executive officer, said in a letter Tuesday to shareholders.
Janus has confirmed 12 market-timing arrangements, though only four of them were active and all have been terminated, the company said in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.