March 23 (Bloomberg) -- TXU Corp., the largest Texas power producer, received a subpoena on March 18 from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigating possible violation of federal securities laws arising from the 2002 collapse of the company's European unit.

The commission is ``conducting a fact-finding inquiry'' and seeks data from Jan. 1, 2001 to March 31, 2003, Dallas-based TXU said in a regulatory filing today. The request involves losses that led TXU to place the European unit in bankruptcy in 2002 and cut its dividend, resulting in lawsuits filed by shareholders and William Murray, a fired vice president, TXU said.

The company said it will cooperate with the SEC. TXU agreed in January to settle claims by TXU Europe creditors for $220 million and to resolve the shareholder lawsuits for $150 million.

The announcement was made before the opening of regular U.S. trading. Shares of TXU fell $2.26, or 2.8 percent, to $77.55 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 20 percent this year.

TXU said there's no merit to Murray's allegations that accounting tricks made profit appear uniform from quarter to quarter, and that executives overlooked weak accounting at TXU Europe.

TXU Chairman Erle Nye, who was chief executive in 2002, has said he was unaware of losses at TXU Europe until shortly before he made them public. The company had a $4.88 billion loss in the 2002 fourth quarter.

The financial crisis forced TXU to cut the quarterly dividend 79 percent to 12.5 cents from 60 cents in October 2002. The shareholder payout was partially restored to 56.25 cents in October 2004.

Eight analysts rate TXU stock a buy, six rate it hold, and one recommends selling the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York jpolson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 23, 2005 07:28 EST