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WACHOVIA BROKERS TERMINATED: Two office managers and 10 brokers at Prudential Securities offices in Boston and the New York City area were asked to resign amid an internal probe of improper mutual fund trading, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The 12 were subjects of an internal investigation of improper trades involving market timing, the wire service said, quoting an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The offices are owned by Wachovia Corp., which in July merged its retail brokerage operations with those of Prudential Financial Inc. Some offices still use the Prudential name.
FLORIDA CATTLE TO CUBA: J.P. Wright & Co. of Naples has signed a contract to sell 250 Florida beef cattle to Cuba, with delivery in the first quarter of 2004. The cattle will come from the Strickland Ranch of Manatee County and Adams Ranch of Fort Pierce. Wright, who has had a U.S. Treasury license to do business in Cuba since 1999, sent 150 head of dairy cattle from Wright to Cuba in August. Wright is a descendant of Tampa's Lykes family, which began shipping Florida cattle to Cuba in the 1850s. The value of Wright's latest contract was not disclosed.
COMPUTER TESTING TO RETURN: Computer-based testing for real estate agents, appraisers, and nine other professions will resume Oct. 14, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation says. About 18,500 candidates for licenses have taken paper-and-pencil tests since May, when computer testing was suspended. The department's decision to award a testing contract to Promissor Inc. prompted a challenge and suspension of computerized testing until the dispute was resolved in Promissor's favor. The other professions are auctioneers, building code administrators and inspectors, community association managers, cosmetologists, veterinarians, barbers, funeral directors and embalmers, asbestos consultants and landscape architects.
MORGAN SETTLES IPO SUIT: Brokerage J.P. Morgan has agreed to pay $25-million to settle federal regulators' allegations that it improperly used distributions of hot new stocks to customers to get them to buy more shares once trading began, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday. J.P. Morgan admitted no wrongdoing in settling a lawsuit brought by the SEC. The violations allegedly occurred in 1999 and 2000.
AT&T PLANS TO CUT 5,000 JOBS: AT&T Corp. expects to eliminate about 5,000 more jobs, or 7 percent of its workforce, as prices and demand fall, said chief financial officer Thomas Horton. AT&T, which eliminated 10,000 positions in 2001 and 2002, is cutting 5,000 nonmanagement jobs this year. AT&T, with 71,000 workers at the end of last year, has been cutting costs and debt in its fourth straight year of sales declines.
BANKS ESCAPE ENRON SUIT: Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and other banks sued by Enron Corp. employee pension funds for allegedly helping the bankrupt energy trader misstate its finances were dismissed from the $3-billion suit. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston dismissed racketeering claims the funds had filed against the two largest U.S. banks Wednesday, saying the banks could not be sued under racketeering laws at the same time they face securities fraud suits by the same plaintiffs. The judge refused to dismiss the claims against Enron, Northern Trust Corp. and former chief executive officer Kenneth L. Lay.