2 specialists settle allegations of improper trading

SIG Specialists and Performance Specialist Group agreed to pay a total of $5.2 million to settle charges of improper trading, according to the NYSE and the SEC. SIG Specialists will pay $3 million and Performance Specialist Group will pay $2.2 million, according to a joint statement from the exchange and the regulatory agency. The firms neither admitted nor denied that they executed orders for their dealer accounts ahead of executable public customer orders. The settlement comes four months after five other NYSE specialist firms settled similar charges and agreed to pay $241 million.