Bank One Subject of Probe
CHICAGO (AP) - Bank One Corp., still reeling from an exodus of credit-card customers, a management overhaul and a fallen stock, now reportedly is being investigated for possible violations involving its 1998 creation.
The regulatory arm of the National Association of Securities Dealers is investigating Banc One Capital Markets, Bank One's investment-banking unit, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unidentified sources.
The report said the problems surfaced after the merger of the Midwest's two biggest banks - Columbus, Ohio-based Banc One Corp. and First Chicago NBD Corp. - creating Chicago-headquartered Bank One, the nation's fifth-biggest bank.
Among the areas reportedly being investigated by NASD Regulation, the industry's self-policing organization, are account reconciliation and bookkeeping problems, supervisory lapses and the filing of possibly misleading accounting reports with regulators. Disciplinary action is expected, possibly including fines totaling more than $1 million, the Journal said.
Bank One officials said Friday they do not discuss regulatory matters. But they released a statement acknowledging that ``bookkeeping problems resulted from the systems conversion in our capital markets units and their consolidation in 1999.'
``There was no impact on customers, their security positions or their account statements,' the bank said. ``At year end, our books and records conformed to industry standards. The financial impact on the company will be minuscule.'
Telephone messages left with NASD officials were not immediately returned Friday.
Bank One stock closed Thursday at $30.81 1/4 on the New York Stock Exchange; markets were closed Friday.
Shares were trading above $55 until serious problems with the bank's First USA credit-card unit emerged last August, sparking the stock's decline.
Former Citigroup president Jamie Dimon took over last month as Bank One's chairman and chief executive officer, replacing John B. McCoy, who retired in January. But the high-level management shakeup continued Thursday with the resignation of Robert Rosholt as chief financial officer.
On the Net: bankone.com |
