A U.S. brokerage unit of Sun Life Financial Inc. agreed to pay $3.8-million (U.S.) to settle claims it failed to adequately tell customers how it was paid to sell investment products. IFMG Securities sold mutual funds and variable annuities for as many as 17 companies through a "preferred" program, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement yesterday. The broker didn't properly inform clients that those companies paid for special treatment and that its brokers received larger commissions for selling their products, the SEC said. IFMG Securities didn't adequately disclose "the potential conflicts of interest created by these payments," the SEC said in the statement. IFMG Securities, which proposed the settlement, neither admitted nor denied the claims. SLF (TSX) fell 89 cents to $44.35. Bloomberg
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