October 12, 2016/Reuters
Deutsche Bank will pay a $9.5 million penalty to settle civil charges that it failed to properly safeguard material non-public information generated by its research analysts and publishing an improper research report, U.S. regulators said Wednesday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Deutsche Bank’s (DBKGn.DE) securities unit encouraged its equity research analysts to communicate with customers and its own traders, and failed to implement policies to prevent the analysts from disclosing non-public reports on trading recommendations and changes in estimates.
The bank settled the case without admitting or denying the charges. In a statement, Deutsche spokeswoman Amanda Williams said the bank “takes its research analyst communications and conduct very seriously.”
She added that the bank has a robust policy in place and has taken steps to correct issues identified by the SEC.
The SEC also charged the bank for issuing a research report about retailer Big Lots (BIG.N) urging investors to buy stock, even though the analyst who prepared it privately told certain bank employees the stock should have downgraded.
(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Richard Chang)
