Ex-Fiserv Exec Settles Late Trading Charges

WASHINGTON -- A former executive with Fiserv Securities Inc. agreed to pay $628,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars by engaging in late trading of mutual funds for his own benefit while at the former Fiserv unit. Robert Hetzer, 47, of Hollywood Beach, Fla., agreed to settle the SEC charges without admitting or denying guilt, but will repay $528,000 in ill-gotten gains and pay a $100,000 fine. The SEC charged that Hetzer made 855 illegal trades after the close of the market by taking advantage of a Fiserv system that allowed late trading to correct errors or technical problems that delayed processing customer orders. Hetzer worked as senior vice president of FSI's Philadelphia-based mutual fund department between 2000 and 2002, when his position was eliminated. The Fiserv subsidiary was bought by clearing giant Fidelity Investments in 2005, then shuttered. This is the second SEC case brought against former executives of the defunct Fiserv unit, as former employees at the unit settled illegal market timing and late trading charges in 2005.