Deutsche Bank agrees to $250,000 fine

Deutsche Bank Securities has agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 to settle charges that it had engaged in dishonest and unethical activity, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said today.

Deutsche Bank hired an agent who had been dismissed by a previous employer for violating state securities law, Galvin's office said, and then attempted to persuade his former clients to move their accounts to Deutsche Bank.

A letter from Deutsche Bank to those customers ignored the facts surrounding the agent's dismissal and stated the agent was an "effective professional held in high esteem," Galvin's office said.

"Providing misleading disclosures to entice new business is an example of investor abuse," Galvin said in a statement, which noted that Deutsche Bank had admitted to the facts in the case.

Attempts to seek comment from Deutsche Bank were not immediately successful.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)