The SEC reports that two well-known investment advisory firms — St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Raymond James & Associates and Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. — are “settling charges related to compliance failures within their wrap fee programs.” As part of the settlements, Raymond James is paying a $600,000 civil penalty and Baird is paying a… Read More >>
RBC Capital Markets Penalized for False Proxy Allegations
The SEC reports that investment bank RBC Capital Markets, part of the Royal Bank of Canada, will pay a $2.5 million settlement for “causing materially false and misleading disclosures about its valuation analysis in a proxy statement for Rural/Metro Corporation’s sale in 2011 to a private equity firm.” That firm was Warburg Pincus. Rural/Metro, a… Read More >>
SEC Rewards Whistleblower with $22 Million
SEC Awards a Total of $107 Million to Whistleblowers The SEC has given a whistleblower “more than $22 million” for a “detailed tip and extensive assistance” that allowed the regulator to halt “a well-hidden fraud at the company where the whistleblower worked,” according to officials. “The $22 million-plus award is the second-largest total the SEC… Read More >>
SEC Slams 13 Firms for Relaying False Performance Data
A baker’s dozen of investment advisory firms has been penalized by the SEC for allegedly “spreading the false claims” of an investment management firm, proving that it can be costly to pass along data The SEC enforcement sweep yielded 13 investment advisers that the regulator says “accepted and negligently relied upon claims by F-Squared Investments… Read More >>
SEC Hits WL Ross with $2.3M Penalty
SEC officials report that WL Ross & Co. LLC, a New York-based private equity fund adviser, founded and chaired by investor Wilbur L. Ross, will pay a civil penalty of $2.3 million, plus reimbursements, to settle charges that it failed to disclose its fee allocation practices to the WLR Funds and their investors, resulting in… Read More >>
SEC to Require More Data from Investment Advisers
SEC Amends the Investment Advisers Act The SEC is asking for more data from investment advisers via revamped reporting and disclosure requirements implemented through amendments to the Investment Advisers Act, and the investment adviser registration and reporting form, officials say. The amendments are intended to improve the quality of information that investment advisers provide to… Read More >>
Apollo Global Management Reaches $52.7M Settlement with SEC
Private equity giant Apollo Global Management has settled with the SEC for $52.7 million for alleged fee and conflict of interest violations while the firm counters that it has been enhancing its disclosure and compliance efforts related to these matters long before the regulator’s inquiry began. SEC officials are charging that four private equity fund… Read More >>
SEC Bars Ex-Goldman Sachs Trader from Securities Industry
The SEC reports that Edwin Chin, the former head trader in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) at Goldman Sachs, has “agreed to be barred from the securities industry and pay $400,000 to settle charges that he repeatedly misled customers and caused them to pay higher prices.” That payment represents $200,000 in disgorgement, $50,000 in prejudgment interest… Read More >>
A Break in a Major Hacking & Fraud Scheme
Earlier this month there was a development in one of the most ingenious hacking and securities fraud efforts in a long time — one that in theory would make for a great crime/thriller movie. To refresh your memory, we reported [ http://bit.ly/2bLHdUQ ] that in a major anti-fraud action, the SEC issued charges against 32… Read More >>
Hedge Fund Manager Charged for Defrauding First Investor
The SEC has charged Nicholas M. Mitsakos and his fund Matrix Capital Markets (MCM), the California-registered investment advisory firm he founded in 2013, with fraud, accusing them of “pretending to manage millions of dollars in assets and then stealing money from the first client who invested with them based on their misrepresentations.” Those SEC allegations… Read More >>
