BUSINESS BRIEFING / PENSIONS

The Securities and Exchange Commission may restrict investment advisors from giving money to so-called placement agents and campaigns of politicians overseeing retirement funds as it cracks down on abuses at public pension funds holding $2.2 trillion in assets.

SEC commissioners voted unanimously to approve the proposal. Under the rule, an investment firm would be barred from managing a fund’s assets for two years if its executives gave money to an elected official involved in awarding contracts. The SEC and New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo are probing whether private equity firms and hedge funds illegally paid placement agents to win business managing money for New York’s pension funds.