Short Takes: S. Carolina Drops Threat To Bar NationsBank Unit

South Carolina has agreed to drop a threat to bar the brokerage unit of NationsBank Corp. from operating in the state.

The threat came March 31 in a "notice of intent to revoke registration" for the company's NationsSecurities unit. South Carolina's secretary of state accused it of having provided misleading and inaccurate responses to inquires from state regulators. The inquiries related to sales practices that some customers and former employees said were improper. NationsSecurites denied the allegations.

Late last week, the secretary of state announced that NationsSecurities executives had agreed in a meeting in Columbia, S.C., to cooperate fully with the investigation. In that meeting, the executives also agreed to arrange for a state-approved "nationally recognized accounting firm" to review the compliance of NationsSecurities operations in the state.

NationsSecurities also agreed to "channel" its communications with South Carolina securities regulators through a Columbia, S.C., law firm, Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard.

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