Administration December 29, 2006

Evergreen Agrees to $4M NASD Settlement

December 29, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Evergreen Investments, a unit of Wachovia Corporation, agreed to pay a $4.2 million civil penalty to settle National Association of Securities Dealers allegations that it adopted improper mutual fund sales methods.
Reported by

Reuters reports the NASD investigation, which lasted more than a year, probed whether Evergreen’s affiliated mutual fund broker-dealer, Evergreen Investment Services, made inappropriate, non-cash compensation to brokers for sales of Evergreen funds between 2001 and 2003. It also investigated if Evergreen sent more business during that period to some broker-dealers who were promoting its funds.

Evergreen Chief Executive Dennis Ferro said in a statement  no shareholders or mutual funds will be affected monetarily or in any other way as a result of the settlement. He also said the company believes no fund or shareholder was adversely affected by the conduct NASD was investigating.

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