AG James and a bipartisan, multistate coalition of 45 securities regulators, together with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), today secured $106 million from Vanguard Group, Inc., investment advisory firm, and its subsidiary Vanguard Marketing Corporation. The settlement follows Vanguard’s failure to notify investors of changes to its retirement funds that resulted in higher capital gains tax bills for hundreds of thousands of investors. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Vanguard lowered the minimum requirements on one of its retirement funds without telling investors that the changes would result in higher tax bills. More than 15,000 New York investors were forced to pay capital gains taxes on their retirement accounts that were exponentially higher because of those undisclosed changes. As a result of today’s settlement with the bipartisan coalition led by New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the SEC, Vanguard will pay $106 million in restitution to hundreds of thousands of investors.    

“New Yorkers deserve the peace of mind that when they rely on trained professionals to help them save for retirement, those professionals won’t end up costing them extra money. People pay Vanguard to help manage and safeguard their retirement funds, but instead these investors were left in the dark about changes that forced them to pay thousands of extra dollars. Today, my office along with a coalition of states and the SEC is holding Vanguard accountable for misleading hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. New Yorkers deserve to retire in comfort and dignity, and that means ensuring their lifetime of hard work and earnings are protected.” – AG James

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-106-million-vanguard-failing-notify-investors