INSURANCE

New York Investigates Prudential Insurance: Regulators said they are investigating the company for selling group annuity contracts that were never approved by the state. A Prudential spokesman said similar violations could have occurred in other states. He said the company is conducting its own internal review. A spokesman for the New York state insurance department said the unauthorized group contracts affected thousands of individuals. In a related development, federal prosecutors investigating fraud at Prudential Securities have issued subpoenas to former and current executives of the firm, according to a published report. Prosecutors have expanded their investigation into sales of VMS Mortgage Investment, one of the biggest limited partnerships offered by Prudential. Prosecutors had focused on sales of $1.3 billion in Prudential-Bache Energy Income partnerships to 130,000 people.