Aegis Capital Corp., a retail and institutional broker-dealer based in New York City, has paid a penalty to the SEC and a fine to self-regulatory organization the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in response to charges that it failed to comply with financial crime recordkeeping and reporting rules and had inadequate supervisory and anti-money laundering… Read More >>
SEC Charges KPMG, Deloitte & BDO Units with Improper Audits
SEC Focuses On Foreign Affiliates of Auditors The SEC has charged foreign affiliates of KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, and BDO for “their involvement in audit work that circumvented the full oversight of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).” The auditors have settled the charges by paying penalties or disgorging their profits from the audits,… Read More >>
SEC Whistleblower Program Proves That Honesty Can Pay
Sometimes crime pays well on Wall Street. But the SEC is doing what it can to show that honesty can also pay. In fact, the SEC’s whistleblower program is handing out its “highest-ever Dodd-Frank whistleblower awards” to two claimants that will share “nearly $50 million,” and a third claimant that will get more than $33… Read More >>
SEC Slams NYSE with Multiple Regulatory Violations
The SEC reports that it has charged the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and two affiliated exchanges (NYSE American and NYSE Arca) with “regulatory failures in connection with multiple episodes, including several disruptive market events.” The violations alleged by NYSE officials include “erroneously implementing a market-wide regulatory halt, negligently misrepresenting stock prices as ‘automated’ despite… Read More >>
Voya Settles SEC’s Conflict of Interest Charges
Voya Holdings Inc. has settled with the SEC over charges that two investment adviser subsidiaries did not disclose conflicts of interest and made misleading disclosures “in connection with their practice of recalling securities on loan so their affiliates could receive tax benefits,” SEC officials say. The Voya adviser affiliates have agreed to be censured and… Read More >>
SEC Charges BitFunder Founder With Fraud
The SEC has charged BitFunder, a bitcoin cryptocurrency platform, and its founder and operator Jon E. Montroll with “operating an unregistered securities exchange and defrauding users of that exchange.” The SEC also charged Montroll with “making false and misleading statements in connection with an unregistered offering of securities.” Those alleged “false and misleading statements” also… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank to Repay Misled CMBS Clients
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (DBSI) will be repaying “more than $3.7 million to customers,” including $1.48 million in disgorgements as part of a settlement with the SEC, which is alleging that the Deutsche Bank subsidiary misled customers about the pricing of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBSes) from March 2011 to August 2015. DBSI, which once operated… Read More >>
Wedbush Securities Charged with Customer Protection Violations
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Wedbush Securities Inc. $1.5 million for violating the SEC’s customer protection and net capital rules, and for related supervisory and books and records failures. Separately, the SEC observes that Wedbush Securities, the largest unit in Wedbush Inc., a firm that has existed since the… Read More >>
Clayton & Giancarlo Issue Joint Crypto Currency Warning
Regulators See Upside to Blockchain/DLT Bitcoin and the other so-called distributed-ledger cryptocurrencies have had a rollercoaster valuations ride so far this year, which may not be surprising to anyone who can identify Mt. Gox or knows that Tether, pitched to investors as the “more stable” cryptocurrency, lost nearly $31 million in tokens near the end… Read More >>
SEC, U.S. Attorneys Target ‘Financial Con Artist’
SEC officials are alleging that “financial con artist” Nicholas Joseph Genovese is a convicted felon perpetrating a fraud by misrepresenting his money management and securities industry experience as he raises money for his hedge fund Willow Creek Investments LP. Describing Genovese as “a purported hedge fund manager in New York City with a brazen offering,”… Read More >>
