NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp on Thursday said two employees in its main banking unit are targets of a U.S. Department of Justice probe into competitive bidding in the municipal derivative markets.
In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the department notified the Wachovia Bank employees in November that they were targets, and that the employees are on administrative leave.
Wachovia said the Department of Justice and the SEC both believe that certain Wachovia employees engaged in improper conduct on some competitively bid transactions.
It said it is cooperating with subpoenas from both agencies, which began requesting information from financial institutions in November 2006.
Wachovia is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Dave Zimmerman)