Cooperation was a key factor in the resolution of an action involving a minority owner of a broker-dealer that is alleged to have facilitated a fraudulent scheme to conceal losses at a major Japanese company. In the Matter of...more
Four SEC Commissioners addressed the annual SEC Speaks Conference, reviewing recent agency initiatives and tracing potential paths for the future. The SEC also brought another FCPA action, a misappropriation case and an...more
2/27/2015
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Australia ,
Bribery ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Goodyear ,
Investment Funds ,
Mail Fraud ,
Misappropriation ,
Penny Stocks ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Wire Fraud
Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. settled an action with the SEC centered on violations of the broker registration provisions, a failure to file suspicious activity reports or SARS and the sale of unregistered penny stock shares. The...more
The SEC named ratings giant Standard & Poor’s in three actions this week and one of its senior executives in another. The firm settled all three actions, admitting to a series of facts but not violations of the law in one...more
1/23/2015
/ Broker-Dealer ,
C-Suite Executives ,
CFTC ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hong Kong ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Funds ,
Misappropriation ,
Policies and Procedures ,
S&P ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
The broker windows approach of filing groups of actions together which center on common theme is expanding to auditor independence. The Commission grouped proceedings naming as Respondents eight audit firms. Each Order...more
The Commission instituted administrative proceedings centered on an offering fraud orchestrated by a former adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School who taught, and previously specialized in, turning around troubled...more
The Commission prevailed in three litigated decisions. The agency secured a favorable jury verdict in an action centered on an offering fraud. In two other cases — one based on misrepresentations regarding the only company...more
10/17/2014
/ Australia ,
Broken Windows ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Hong Kong ,
Insider Trading ,
International Harmonization ,
Investment Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement
The D.C. Circuit rejected efforts by the SEC to compel the Securities Investor Protection Corporation to liquidate a broker-dealer that was part of the Stanford Ponzi scheme empire. The investors had purchased CDs from an...more
7/22/2014
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Investors ,
Liquidation ,
Offshore Companies ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
SIPC ,
Stanford Ponzi Scheme
The Commission brought its first action involving the anti-retaliation provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. It centers on an investment adviser, a broker dealer, conflicts and retaliation against a firm employee who reported the...more
The Commission failed to prove its insider trading claims to the satisfaction of a jury for the second week in a row. This time a Los Angeles jury rejected claims of the agency against a corporate executive that were tied to...more
6/13/2014
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Hong Kong ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Liquidnet ,
Market Manipulation ,
Misrepresentation ,
Offerings ,
Pay or Play ,
PCAOB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
The Commission’s inspection program, conducted by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations or OCIE, has been the source of a number of enforcement actions. One example is the recently filed case against dark pool...more
6/11/2014
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Commodity Pool ,
CPO ,
Dark Pool ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Chair Mary Jo White testified before Congress this week. Her testimony focused on the budget, reviewing the recent work of the agency. The Commission brought a series of civil injunctive and administrative proceedings this...more
5/2/2014
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
eBay ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fraud ,
Mary Jo White ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
White Collar Crimes
Registered broker-dealer Jefferies LLC resolved failure to supervise charges tied to the market crisis with the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. The Commission settled with the broker in an...more
Another example of the Commission’s new and evolving ad hoc admissions policy emerged from the settlement of an administrative proceeding with Credit Suisse Group AG. In the Matter of Credit Suisse Group AG, File No. 3-15763...more
The Commission brought charges against three subsidiaries of ConvergEx Group, LLC, and two employees of subsidiaries, based on a scheme to defraud brokerage customers by charging excessive fees. In the Matter of G-Trade...more