{
  "id": 12477035,
  "title": "SEC Seeks Final Judgment Against Former Western Asset Co-CIO Ken Leech in Cherry Picking Case",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/sec-seeks-final-judgment-against-former-western-asset-co-cio-ken",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-06T20:30:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SEC Press Releases",
    "slug": "sec-press-releases",
    "url": "https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026-103-sec-seeks-final-judgment-against-former-western-asset-co-cio-ken-leech-cherry-picking-case"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sought final judgment against former co-chief investment officer of Western Asset Management Company LLC, Stephen Kenneth Leech II, in a multi-year cherry-picking allocation scheme case. Leech is alleged to have placed trades and delayed allocations until near or after futures markets set daily settlement prices from at least January 2021 through October 2023, allowing him to observe price movements and disproportionately allocate millions of dollars in gains and losses to favored and disfavored portfolios. Leech has agreed to a $3 million penalty, an officer-and-director bar, and a permanent injunction against violating antifraud provisions of federal securities laws. The SEC's Los Angeles Regional Office emphasized that Leech and Western Asset's conduct was an egregious breach of fiduciary obligations to clients. In June 2026, the SEC ordered Western Asset to pay a $100 million civil penalty and establish a Fair Fund to distribute money to affected investors. Leech also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.",
  "summary": "The Securities and Exchange Commission today moved for entry of a final judgment by consent against Stephen Kenneth Leech II, the former co-chief investment officer of registered investment adviser Western Asset Management Company LLC, whom the SEC…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}