SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Discuss Investment Advice and Key Topics from Securities Litigation at Sept. 19 Meeting
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting on Sept. 19, 2024, at 10 a.m. ET at the SEC Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The meeting will also be webcast on the SEC website. The committee will host two panels: Investment Advice: A History and Update on Who is Required to Serve in Your Best Interest; and Key Topics from Securities Litigation: Shareholder Proposals and “Tracing” in...
2024-09-12 12:23 PM EDT
eToro Reaches Settlement with SEC and Will Cease Trading Activity in Nearly All Crypto Assets
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 12, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that eToro USA LLC has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges that it operated an unregistered broker and unregistered clearing agency in connection with its trading platform that facilitated buying and selling certain crypto assets as securities. eToro has agreed to cease and desist from violating the applicable federal securities laws and will make only a limited set of...
2024-09-12 9:12 AM EDT
SEC Charges John Deere With FCPA Violations for Subsidiary's Role in Thai Bribery Scheme
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 10, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Deere & Company, which does business as John Deere, agreed to pay nearly $10 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribes paid by its wholly owned subsidiary, Wirtgen Thailand. The company is an Illinois-based global manufacturer of agricultural machinery and heavy equipment. The SEC’s order finds that, from at...
2024-09-10 4:52 PM EDT
SEC Announces Six New Investor Advisory Committee Members
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 10, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced six new members to fill vacancies on its Investor Advisory Committee. The new members, who will serve four-year terms, join 17 current committee members. The committee, established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, advises the Commission on regulatory priorities and initiatives to protect investors and promote the integrity of the U.S. securities...
2024-09-10 11:02 AM EDT
SEC Charges Keurig with Making Inaccurate Statements Regarding Recyclability of K-Cup Beverage Pod
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 10, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. with making inaccurate statements regarding the recyclability of its K-Cup single use beverage pods. To settle the SEC’s charges, Keurig agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty. According to the SEC’s order, in annual reports for fiscal years 2019 and 2020, Keurig stated that its testing with recycling facilities “validate[d] that [K-Cup pods] can be...
2024-09-10 9:15 AM EDT
SEC Charges Nine Investment Advisers in Ongoing Sweep into Marketing Rule Violations
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against nine registered investment advisers for violating the Marketing Rule by disseminating advertisements that included untrue or unsubstantiated statements of material fact or testimonials, endorsements, or third-party ratings that lacked required disclosures. All nine firms have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and to pay $1,240,000 in combined civil...
2024-09-09 3:10 PM EDT
SEC Publishes Small Business Educational Resources About Income Statements and Balance Sheets
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation this week released new educational resources for small business owners that explore the anatomy of income statements and balance sheets. "Understanding a business’s financial statements is critical for investors and business owners alike," said the office’s Director, Stacey Bowers. “These new resources aim to provide accessible tools to...
2024-09-09 12:30 PM EDT
SEC Approves a New PCAOB Quality Control Standard
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) new quality control (QC) standard and related amendments to its standards, rules, and forms. QC 1000, A Firm’s System of Quality Control, establishes an integrated, risk-based quality control standard that will require all registered public accounting firms to identify specific risks to their practice and design a quality...
2024-09-09 12:08 PM EDT
SEC Charges Seven Public Companies with Violations of Whistleblower Protection Rule
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against seven public companies for using employment, separation, and other agreements that violated rules prohibiting actions to impede whistleblowers from reporting potential misconduct to the SEC. To settle the SEC’s charges, the companies agreed to pay more than $3 million combined in civil penalties. Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., agreed to pay a $1,386,000...
2024-09-09 9:10 AM EDT
SEC Charges Broker-Dealer Nationwide Planning and Two Affiliated Investment Advisers with Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against three affiliated registrants, Commission-registered broker-dealer Nationwide Planning Associates, Inc. and investment adviser NPA Asset Management, LLC, and state-registered investment adviser Blue Point Strategic Wealth Management, LLC, for impeding brokerage customers and advisory clients from reporting securities law violations to the SEC. The firms agreed...
2024-09-04 4:34 PM EDT
SEC Charges Six Credit Rating Agencies with Significant Recordkeeping Failures
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against six nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, or NRSROs, for significant failures by the firms and their personnel to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders; acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws; agreed to pay...
2024-09-03 4:41 PM EDT
SEC Charges Advisory Firm ClearPath with Custody Rule and Liability Disclaimer Violations
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against ClearPath Capital Partners LLC for failing to comply with requirements related to the safekeeping of client assets and for its use of impermissible liability disclaimers in its advisory and private fund agreements. According to the SEC’s order, ClearPath failed to timely distribute annual audited financial statements to investors in certain private funds that...
2024-09-03 3:38 PM EDT
SEC Charges Creative Legal Fundings CEO Maria Dickerson with Operating Multimillion Dollar Ponzi Scheme that Targeted Filipino-American Community
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Maria Dulce Pino Dickerson and her companies Creative Legal Fundings in CA and The Ubiquity Group LLC with raising approximately $7 million from more than 130 investors through a fraudulent securities offering targeting members of the Filipino-American community across the United States. According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately March 2021 through May 2023, Sacramento,...
2024-09-03 1:57 PM EDT
SEC Charges Crypto-Focused Advisory Firm Galois Capital for Custody Failures
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Florida-based Galois Capital Management LLC, a former registered investment adviser for a private fund that primarily invested in crypto assets, for failing to comply with requirements related to the safeguarding of client assets, including crypto assets being offered and sold as securities. The Commission also found that Galois misled fund investors about...
2024-09-03 12:04 PM EDT
SEC Adopts Reporting Enhancements for Registered Investment Companies and Provides Guidance on Open-End Fund Liquidity Risk Management Programs
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 28, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to reporting requirements on Form N-PORT to provide the Commission and investors with more timely information about certain registered investment companies (funds). Form N-PORT reports provide important information about a fund’s portfolio holdings and related information to help assess a fund’s risks. The amendments will provide the Commission with timelier information about...
2024-08-28 11:27 AM EDT
SEC Charges China-Based QZ Asset Management Ltd. and Its CEO in Pre-IPO Fraud Scheme
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against China-based investment adviser QZ Asset Management Limited a/k/a Qianze Asset Management Limited (QZ Asset), its South Dakota-based holding company QZ Global Limited, and the CEO of both entities, Blake Yeung Pu Lei a/k/a Yang Pulei (Yeung), with fraud for lying to clients and prospective clients regarding the safety of their investments, the investment adviser’s...
2024-08-27 1:39 PM EDT
SEC Charges U.S. Navy Shipbuilder Austal USA with Accounting Fraud
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Austal USA, LLC, a Mobile, Alabama-based shipbuilder, and its Australia-based parent company, Austal Limited, have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges that the companies conducted a fraudulent revenue recognition scheme. As part of the settlement with the SEC, Austal USA will pay a $24 million civil penalty. According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least January 2013 through July...
2024-08-27 12:49 PM EDT
SEC Charges Brothers Jonathan and Tanner Adam with $60 Million Ponzi Scheme
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 26, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it obtained emergency asset freezes against Jonathan Adam, a resident of Angleton, Texas, and his brother, Tanner Adam, a resident of Miami, Florida, and against their respective entities, GCZ Global LLC and Triten Financial Group LLC, to halt an alleged $60 million Ponzi scheme impacting more than 80 investors across the country. The SEC’s complaint alleges that, from January...
2024-08-26 5:45 PM EDT
SEC Charges Sound Point Capital Management for Insider Trading Policy Failures
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 26, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against New York-based registered investment adviser Sound Point Capital Management LP for failing to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material nonpublic information (MNPI) concerning its trading of collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). To settle the SEC’s charges, Sound Point agreed to pay...
2024-08-26 3:16 PM EDT
SEC Charges Abra with Unregistered Offers and Sales of Crypto Asset Securities
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 26, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed settled charges against Plutus Lending LLC, which does business as Abra, for failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto asset lending product, Abra Earn. The SEC also charged Abra with operating as an unregistered investment company. According to the SEC’s complaint, in or around July 2020, Abra began to offer and sell Abra Earn in the United States. Abra Earn allowed...
2024-08-26 2:13 PM EDT