Edward Jones agrees to pay $20 million fine

Edward Jones has agreed to pay more than $20 million to settle charges that the firm and the former head of its municipal underwriting desk overcharged customers in new municipal bond sales, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday.

The St. Louis Business Journal reports the employee, Stina Wishman, gathered new bonds into the firm's inventory and offered them to customers at higher prices.

“In other instances, Edward Jones entirely refrained from offering the bonds to its customers until after trading commenced in the secondary market, and then offered the bonds at prices higher than the initial offering prices,” the agency said.

According to the SEC, customers overpaid by at least $4.6 million.

Read more from the St. Louis Business Journal.