BOSTON (AP) – Federal regulators investigating potential conflicts of interest in the mutual fund industry are looking into whether traders at Fidelity Investments improperly steered business to siblings who work at brokerage firms, according to a published report.

The Boston Globe, citing lawyers and others familiar with the matter, reported Sunday that a broader investigation that also covers industry gift-giving practices includes the relationship between two brothers.

David K. Donovan, 42, is a trader dealing in high-tech stocks at Boston-based Fidelity, and Peter J. Donovan, 36, handles Fidelity business at Banc of America Securities in Boston.

David Donovan did business directly with his younger brother, among others at Banc of America Securities, lawyers and others familiar with the operation told the Globe. The newspaper did not identify the sources.

Regulators are also trying to determine whether another half-dozen or so traders at Fidelity have siblings who work at brokerages and receive commissions for finding buyers and sellers and helping to execute securities trades.

Investigators have said they are concerned that fund shareholders may have suffered if a fund improperly steered trading business to brokerages. Traders are supposed to act in the best interests of shareholders by doing business with brokers offering the best service and prices, regardless of family relationships or any gifts traders may have received from brokerages.

Fidelity Investments and several brokerages that handle the mutual fund giant’s trading have recently received subpoenas from regulators in a probe disclosed last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers. Investigators did not specify which companies they were examining in a probe, which involves lavish gifts from brokers to mutual fund company traders. The Globe reported last week that Fidelity is at the center of the probe.

Brokers are prohibited by the NASD from donating gifts of more than $100 to people with whom they do business, and many companies have policies restricting gifts.

There are no government or industry regulations governing business relationships among relatives in the investment industry, according to securities attorneys.

David Donovan, through his attorney, declined to comment, as did Peter Donovan, the Globe said. Bank of America Corp., which owns the securities subsidiary, said Peter Donovan is one of several traders in its Boston office that handles Fidelity’s trades, and that he is David’s brother, but declined to comment further.

A Fidelity spokeswoman, Anne Crowley, declined to comment on whether Fidelity traders improperly steered business to favored brokers.

But she noted that the firm’s trading costs are among the lowest in the mutual fund industry, which benefits Fidelity shareholders by reducing expenses. Fidelity also uses sophisticated technology tools to monitor trading among its own traders and outside brokers, and measures those results against benchmarks it has developed.

Fidelity does not have an absolute prohibition on employees doing business with family members. But Crowley said the company’s code of ethics requires employees not to place their interest, or that of another party, ahead of shareholder interests.