Paul Roye told reporters Thursday that the SEC is readying a ban on the practice of funds rewarding distributors with directed brokerage commissions. Roye heads the Investment Management Division at the SEC.

Roye said that the SEC staff would propose the changes in rules governing directed commissions at a February 11 meeting of the five commissioners.

"This is an area where we think the conflicts are such that we ought to ban 'directed brokerage,'" Roye told the media. "What our examinations reveal is there are explicit quid pro quo arrangements."

The potential ban grew out of an SEC probe into revenue sharing practices between 15 broker-dealers and fund firms sold through their sales force. The Commission found that 13 of the 15 broker-dealers provided more prominent shelf space to funds that provided revenue sharing. About half of the distributors did not share information about the payments with investors.

Based on the earlier probe, the commission continues to look into the practices at 8 broker dealers and 12 fund firms.  

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