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On August 21, 2024, Franklin disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that Stephen Kenneth Leech (“Leech”) the co-Chief Investment Officer of Western Asset Management Co. (“WAMCO”), a subsidiary of Franklin, “recently received a Wells Notice from the Staff of the [SEC], and is on a leave of absence to focus on this matter.”  WAMCO “is also cooperating with parallel government investigations.”  According to an August 21, 2024 Bloomberg article both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) are investigating.

Following this news, the price of Franklin fell $2.84 per share, over 12%, to close at $19.78 per share on August 21, 2024, the largest single day drop since October 2020.

Then on November 25, 2024, the SEC announced fraud charges against Leech for “engaging in a multi-year scheme to allocate favorable trades to certain portfolios, while allocating unfavorable trades to other portfolios, a practice known as cherry picking.”  The Complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Leech engaged in this practice from January 2021 to October 2023.  The Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Sanjay Wadhwa, said “the scale and duration of Leech’s allegedly fraudulent conduct amounts to a shocking betrayal of his fiduciary obligations to his clients, who paid dearly for his transgressions.”

Also on November 25, 2025, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James E. Dennehy, announced the unsealing of an indictment against Leech.  The indictment alleges that Leech assigned over $600 million of gains to favored clients and over $600 million of losses to disfavored clients.  Leech is charged with securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, commodity trading advisor fraud, commodities fraud and false statements. Leech’s alleged victims include both institutional and retail investors.

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If you have any questions about this investigation, please contact:

CONTACT:

Pamela A. Mayer
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
800 Third Avenue, 38th Floor
New York, New York 10022
(646) 315-9003
pmayer@kaplanfox.com

Laurence D. King
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1560
Oakland, California 94612
(415) 772-4704
lking@kaplanfox.com