SEC Division of Investment Management staff letter: Wachovia Securities LLC

PAUL. WEISS, RIFKIND,
1285 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK. NEW YORK 10019-6064
TELEPHONE (212) 373-3000
FACSIMILE (212) 757-3990
LLOYD K. GARRISON (1946-1991 )
RANDOLPH E. PAUL (1946-1956)
SIMON H. R1FK1ND ( 1950-1995)
LOUIS S. WEISS (t 927-1950)
JOHN F. WHARTON (1927-1977)
WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL NUMBER
212-373-3124
WRITER'S DIRECT FACSIMILE
212-492-0124
WRITER'S DIRECT E-MAIL ADDRESS dhuntington@paulweiss.com WHARTON & GARRISON LLP 2001 K STREET, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20006-1047 TELEPHONE (202) 223-7300 FACSIMILE (202) 223-7420 FUKOKU SEIMEI BUILDING 2-2 UCHISAIWAICHO 2-CHOME CHIYODA-KU, TOKYO 100-0011, JAPAN TELEPHONE (81-3) 3597-8101 FACSiMILE 1.81-3) 3597-8120 UNIT 3601, FORTUNE PLAZA OFFICE TOWER A NO 7 DONG SANHUAN ZHONGLU CHAO YANG DISTRICT BEIJING 100020 PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TELEPHONE (86-10) 5828-6300 FACSIMILE (86-10) 6530-9070/9080 12TH FLOOR, HONG KONG CLUB BUILDING 3A CHATER ROAD, CENTRAL HONG KONG TELEPHONE (852) 2536-9933 FACSIMILE (8521 2536-9622 ALDER CASTLE 10 NOBLE STREET LONDON EC2V 7JU, U,K TELEPHONE (44 20) 7367 1600 FACSIMILE 144 20) 7367 1650 February 17,2009 MATTHEW W, ABBOTT MARK H. ALCOTT ALLAN J. ARFFA ROBERT A. ATKINS JOHN F BAUGHMAN LYNN B. BAYARD DANIEL J. BELLER MITCHELL L. BERG MARK S. BERGMAN BRUCE BIRENBOIM H. CHRISTOPHER BOEHNING ANGELO BONVINO HENK BRANDS JAMES L. BROCHIN RICHARD J. BRONSTEIN DAVID W, BROWN SUSANNA M. BUERGEL PATRICK S. CAMPBELL* JEANETTE K CHAN YVONNE Y. F CHAN LEWIS R. CLAYTON JAY COHEN KELLEY A. CORNISH CHARLES E. DAVIDOW DOUGLAS R. DAVIS THOMAS V. DE LA BAsTI DE III ARIEL J. DECKELBAUM JAMES M. DUBIN ANDREW J. EHRLICH LESLIE GORDON FAGEN MARC FALCONE PETER L. FELCHER ROBERTO FINZI PETER E. FISCH ROBERT C. FLEDER MARTIN FLUMENBAUM ANDREW J. FOLEY HARRIS B. FREIDUS MANUEL S. FREY KENNETH A. GALLO MICHAEL E. GERTZMAN PAUL D. GINSBERG ERIC 5. GOLDSTEIN ERIC GOODISON CHARLES H. GOOGE, JR. ANDREW G. GORDON BRUCE A GUTENPLAN GAINES GWATHMEY, III ALAN S. HALPERIN CLAUDIA HAMMERMAN GERARD E HARPER BRIAN S, HERMANN ROBERT M HIRSH MICHELE HIRSHMAN JOYCE S. HUANG MEREDITH J. KANE ROBERTA A, KAPLAN BRAD 5. KARP JOHN C. KENNEDY ALAN W. KORNBERG DANIEL J, KRAMER NOT ADMITTED TO THE NEW YORh, BAR DAVID K. LAKHDHIR JOHN E. LANGE DANIEL J. LEFFELL XIAOYU GREG L1U JEFFREY D. MARELL JULIA TARVER MASON MARCO V. MASOTTI EDWIN S. MAYNARD DAVID W. MAYO TOBY S. MYERSON JOHN E. NATHAN CATHERINE NYARADY ALEX YOUNG K. OH JOHN J O'NEIL KELLEY D, PARKER ROBERT P. PARKER MARC E PERLMUTTER MARK F. POMERANTZ VALERIE E. RADWANER CAREY R. RAMOS CARL L, REiSNER WALTER G. RICCIARDI WALTER RlEMAN RICHARD A. ROSEN ANDREW N. ROSENBERG PETERJ ROTHENBERG JACQUELINE P RUBIN RAPHAEL M. RUSSO JEFFREY D sAFERSTEIN JEFFREY B. SAMUELS DALE M. SARRO TERRY E. SCHIMEK KENNETH M. SCHNEIDER ROBERT B, SCHUMER JAMES H. SCHWAB STEPHEN J. SHIMSHAK DAVID R. SrCULAR MOSES SILVERMAN STEVEN SIMKIN JOSEPH J. SIMONS MARILYN SOBEL TARUN M. STEWART ERIC ALAN STONE AIDAN SYNNOTT ROBYN F TARNOFSKY JUDITH R, THOYER DANIEL J. TOAL MARK A, UNDERBERG LIZA M VELAZQUEZ MARIA T. VULLO LAWRENCE G WEE THEODORE V. WELLS, JR BETH A. WILKINSON STEVEN J. WILLIAMS LAWRENCE I. WITDORCHIC JORDAN E. YARETT KAYE N. YOSH I NO TONG YU TRACEY A. ZACCONE T ROBERT ZOCHOWSKI, JR FIRST CLASS MAIL AND EMAIL Douglas J. Scheidt, Esq. Associate Director and Chief Counsel Division of Investment Management Securities and Exchange
Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549 Re: In the Matter of Auction Rate Securities Liquidity, Wachovia Securities, LLC (File No. C-7471); Securities and Exchange Commission v. Wachovia Securities, LLC (N.D.IlI. 2009) - Request for Relief under Rule 206(4)-3 under the Investment Adviser Act of 1940 Dear Mr. Scheidt:
We submit this letter on behalf of our client Wachovia Securities, LLC (the "Settling Firm") in connection with a settlement between the Settling Firm and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") in the above referenced civil proceeding relating to the Settling Firm's sale of auction rate securities to its customers. The Settling Firm is an indirect subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company ("Wells Fargo").] Through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, Wells Fargo offers banking, The Settling Firm is a subsidiary ofWachovia Securities Financial Holdings, LLC ("WSFH"), a joint venture between Wells Fargo (as a result of its merger with Wachovia Corporation) and Prudential Financial, Inc. ("Prudential"). Prudential's precise indirect ownership interest in WSFH, taking into account, among other things, Wachovia Corporation's 2007 acquisition of A.G. Edwards, Inc., is in the process of being determined. We request that any relief granted apply to Prudential and its affiliates to the extent that Prudential and any of its affiliates are deemed associated persons ofWachovia Securities. Ooc#: us 1:5292751 v8