2026-06-12 16:20:16 UTC / 路透社
作者：乔纳森·斯坦普尔
2026年6月12日 格林尼治标准时间下午4:20 更新于3小时前
2021年5月12日，美国华盛顿特区，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）总部外的标识牌。摄于2021年5月12日。路透社/安德鲁·凯利/档案照片/档案照片
- 被告承认妨碍SEC调查，欺诈指控被撤销
- 前雇主Wamco接受美国SEC1亿美元民事罚款
- 利奇被指控在知晓交易表现后进行交易分配
纽约6月12日（路透社）——西方资产管理公司（Western Asset Management Co）前明星债券经理肯尼斯·利奇于周五认罪，罪名是妨碍一项针对所谓“cherry-picking”（挑选优质交易分配给偏好投资者，将亏损交易分配给其他投资者）的调查。
利奇承认妨碍美国证券交易委员会调查的一项罪名，从而取消了原定于周一在曼哈顿联邦法院举行的审判。
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这位前雇主Wamco的前联合首席投资官曾面临四项欺诈指控，罪名是在2021年1月至2023年10月期间策划了一项价值超过6亿美元的cherry-picking计划。这些指控将被撤销。
检察官指控利奇在2024年3月美国SEC的宣誓证词中撒谎，当时当被问及在下达交易指令时是否“心中已有分配方案”时，他给出了肯定答复。
现年72岁的利奇根据联邦量刑指南的建议，可能面临6至12个月的监禁，这比他被判定犯有欺诈罪的刑罚要轻得多。
他的律师拒绝置评。曼哈顿美国检察官杰伊·克莱顿的发言人也未立即置评。
Wamco于6月5日同意支付1亿美元民事罚款，以了结美国SEC针对其未能妥善监督利奇的民事指控。
这家资产管理公司并未承认有不当行为。
Wamco是富兰克林资源公司（Franklin Resources）旗下子公司，其旗下品牌包括富兰克林邓普顿（Franklin Templeton）。
利奇被指利用首日交易表现分配交易
当局表示，利奇会等待观察交易首日的表现，然后追溯性地将交易分配给客户，以提升Wamco的收入和他个人的薪酬。
利奇被指将表现良好的交易分配给他所称体现其最佳投资理念的“宏观机遇”（Macro Opportunities）投资组合，而将表现较差的交易分配给“核心”（Core）和“核心增强”（Core Plus）投资组合。
检察官表示，在2022年俄罗斯债务和2023年瑞士信贷债务投资出现亏损后，利奇变得特别专注于支撑“宏观机遇”投资组合。
利奇于2024年11月被起诉，此时距Wamco将其停职已有三个月。他的量刑听证会预计将于9月举行。
在针对利奇的调查公开后，Wamco遭遇了大规模的资金赎回。
截至3月底，该公司管理的资产达2289亿美元，较2024年6月下降了40%。
总部位于加利福尼亚州圣马特奥的富兰克林集团截至3月底管理的资产达1.68万亿美元。
乔纳森·斯坦普尔 纽约报道；马克·波特 编辑
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Former star US bond manager Kenneth Leech pleads guilty to obstructing ‘cherry-picking’ probe
2026-06-12 16:20:16 UTC / Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel
June 12, 2026 4:20 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago
Signage is seen at the headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. Picture taken May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo/File Photo
- Defendant admitted to obstructing SEC probe, fraud charges dropped
- Former employer Wamco accepted $100 million SEC civil penalty
- Leech accused of allocating trades after seeing how they performed
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) – Kenneth Leech, a former star bond manager at Western Asset Management Co, pleaded guilty on Friday to obstructing a probe into alleged “cherry-picking,” the assigning of profitable trades to favored investors and losing trades to other investors.
Leech admitted to one count of obstructing, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proceeding, averting a scheduled Monday trial in Manhattan federal court.
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The former co-chief investment officer of Wamco, as his former employer is known, had faced four fraud charges for allegedly orchestrating a more than $600 million cherry-picking scheme from January 2021 to October 2023. Those charges will be dropped.
Prosecutors accused Leech of lying during sworn SEC testimony in March 2024, when he answered yes when asked if he had “an allocation in mind” when placing trades.
Leech, 72, could face six to 12 months in prison under recommended federal sentencing guidelines, much less than if he were convicted of fraud.
His lawyers declined to comment. A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan had no immediate comment.
Wamco agreed on June 5 to pay a $100 million civil penalty to resolve SEC civil charges it failed to properly supervise Leech.
The asset manager did not admit wrongdoing.
Wamco is part of Franklin Resources BEN.N, whose brands include Franklin Templeton.
LEECH ALLEGEDLY USED FIRST-DAY PERFORMANCE TO ASSIGN TRADES
Authorities said Leech waited to see how trades performed on their first day before retroactively allocating them to clients to boost Wamco revenue and his own compensation.
Leech allegedly steered trades that performed well to “Macro Opportunities” portfolios that he said reflected his best ideas, and worse trades to “Core” and “Core Plus” portfolios.
Prosecutors said Leech became particularly focused on supporting Macro Opportunities portfolios after they lost money on Russian debt in 2022 and Credit Suisse debt in 2023.
Leech was indicted in November 2024, three months after Wamco put him on leave. His sentencing is expected in September.
Wamco suffered large outflows after probes into Leech became public.
It ended March with $228.9 billion of assets under management, down 40% from June 2024.
Franklin, based in San Mateo, California, ended March with $1.68 trillion of assets under management.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Porter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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