Royal Alliance Brokerage Settles Case

Royal Alliance Associates Inc. agreed to settle charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to supervise employees by paying a $50,000 fine and hiring an outside consultant to review its policies. Royal Alliance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Angeles-based SunAmerica Inc., has about 2,700 brokers and 1,500 offices nationwide. The firm neither admitted nor denied the charges in agreeing to settle the SEC allegations. The SEC alleged that the firm failed to reasonably oversee former managing executives who staffed one-man branches in Greensboro, N.C., and Cocoa Beach, Fla. The Greensboro executive allegedly diverted more than $2 million from customer accounts. Christine Castro, a SunAmerica spokeswoman, said Royal Alliance fired the two managing executives after discovering the problems and also sought to reimburse customers.