The SEC has ordered The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) to pay $17 million in penalties for violating its SEC-approved Stress Testing and Clearing Fund Methodology rule. The regulatory body found that OCC failed to comply with its own rule during certain times between October 2019 and May 2021. OCC, based […]
Tag: SEC Enforcement
SEC Charges Terraform and CEO Do Kwon in Crypto Schemes
We discussed this case previously in connection with the firm’s CEO,s attempts to avoid service of a subpoena and his refusal to comply. The company not only refused to comply, but it sued the SEC for violation of various statutes. See, What Happens if I Ignore an SEC Subpoena. Now […]
Getting Paid to Promote Securities? You Need to Disclose That Fact!
Former NBA player Paul Pierce was paid more than $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens in order to promote them on Twitter. He failed to disclose the payment and ultimately agreed to settle an SEC case by disgorging the $244,000 payment, plus interest and $1,115,000 million in penalties. That is a […]
SEC Charges Georgia Resident for Spreading False Rumors about Public Companies
The SEC has charged Milan Vinod Patel, a resident of Cumming, Georgia, for disseminating over 100 false rumors about publicly traded companies, resulting in more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. In the past, the SEC had charged four other individuals, namely Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and […]
Activision Blizzard to Pay $35 Million for Failing to Maintain Disclosure Controls Related to Complaints of Workplace Misconduct and Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule
Feb. 3, 2023 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game development and publishing company, agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges that it failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that the company could assess whether its disclosures pertaining […]
SEC Proposes Updates to Ethics Rules Governing Securities Trading by Personnel
Jan. 30, 2023 —The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed amendments to its ethics rules to strengthen and modernize its ethics compliance program. The amendments would add new requirements and prohibitions to the program, which already includes some of the most stringent ethics requirements in the executive branch for all […]
SEC Proposes Rule to Prohibit Conflicts of Interest in Certain Securitizations
Jan. 25, 2023 — The SEC today proposed a rule to implement Section 27B of the Securities Act of 1933, a provision added by Section 621 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The rule is intended to prevent the sale of asset-backed securities (ABS) that are tainted by material conflicts of interest. Specifically, […]
Bloomberg to Pay $5 Million for Misleading Disclosures about Its Valuation Methodologies for Fixed Income Securities
Jan. 23, 2023 —The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Bloomberg Finance L.P. (Bloomberg) for misleading disclosures relating to its paid subscription service, BVAL, which provides daily price valuations for fixed-income securities to financial services entities. The SEC’s order finds that from at least 2016 through October […]
SEC Charges Former BlackRock Portfolio Manager with Undisclosed Conflict of Interest
Jan. 5, 2023 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Randy Robertson, a former BlackRock Advisors, LLC portfolio manager, for failing to disclose a conflict of interest arising from his relationship with a film distribution company in which the fund he managed for BlackRock invested millions of dollars. To […]
SEC Charges 8 in Connection with $45 Million Crypto Fraud
Jan. 4, 2023 —The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Neil Chandran, Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, Linda Knott, AEO Publishing Inc, Banner Co-Op, Inc, and BannersGo, LLC for their involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme named CoinDeal that raised more than $45 million from sales of unregistered securities […]