SEC Updates Ethics Rules Governing Securities Trading by Agency Personnel
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 22, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to its ethics rules to strengthen and modernize its ethics compliance program. The amendments update the SEC’s existing, robust ethics requirements that govern the securities holdings and transactions of all agency employees, their spouses, and minor children. The rule was adopted jointly with the Office of Government Ethics. “I was pleased to support today’s adoption of...
2024-02-22 5:17 PM EST
SEC Charges Husband of Energy Company Manager with Insider Trading
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 22, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Tyler Loudon of Houston, Texas, with insider trading ahead of a February 2023 announcement that London-based oil and gas company BP p.l.c. agreed to acquire TravelCenters of America Inc., a full-service truck stop and travel center company headquartered in Ohio. Loudon allegedly made $1.76 million in illegal profits from his trading. According to the SEC’s complaint, Loudon allegedly...
2024-02-22 5:06 PM EST
SEC Small Business Advisory Committee to Discuss the Accredited Investor Definition and the State of the IPO Market
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 16, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee today released the agenda for its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27, which will include a discussion of the accredited investor definition and initial public offerings (IPOs). Members of the public can watch the live meeting via webcast on www.sec.gov. The Committee, which provides advice and recommendations to the Commission on rules, regulations,...
2024-02-16 12:29 PM EST
SEC Charges TIAA Subsidiary for Failing to Act in the Best Interest of Retail Customers
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 16, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that registered broker-dealer TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services LLC (TC Services), a subsidiary of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), will pay more than $2.2 million to settle charges that it failed to comply with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) in connection with recommendations to retail customers to open a TIAA Individual Retirement...
2024-02-16 11:21 AM EST
SEC Publishes Annual Staff Report on Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 16, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Credit Ratings published its annual Staff Report to Congress today on Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs), commonly known as credit rating agencies, to provide findings on its examinations of the agencies, and to discuss the state of competition, transparency, and conflicts of interest among them. “The oversight of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating...
2024-02-16 10:15 AM EST
SEC Charges Van Eck Associates for Failing to Disclose Influencer's Role in Connection with ETF Launch
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 16, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that registered investment adviser Van Eck Associates Corporation has agreed to pay a $1.75 million civil penalty to settle charges that it failed to disclose a social media influencer’s role in the launch of its new exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to the SEC’s order, in March 2021, Van Eck Associates launched the VanEck Social Sentiment ETF (NYSE: BUZZ) to track an index...
2024-02-16 9:11 AM EST
SEC Proposes Rule to Update Definition of Qualifying Venture Capital Funds
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 14, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed a rule that would update the dollar threshold for a fund to qualify as a “qualifying venture capital fund” for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Act). The rule would update the dollar threshold to $12 million aggregate capital contributions and uncalled committed capital, up from the current standard of $10 million. Qualifying venture capital funds are excluded from the...
2024-02-14 3:23 PM EST
Sixteen Firms to Pay More Than $81 Million Combined to Settle Charges for Widespread Recordkeeping Failures
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 9, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against five broker-dealers, seven dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, and four affiliated investment advisers for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders, acknowledged that their conduct violated...
2024-02-09 9:14 AM EST
SEC Adopts Amendments to Enhance Private Fund Reporting
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to Form PF, the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds, including those that also are registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as commodity pool operators or commodity trading advisers. The amendments, which the CFTC concurrently adopted, are designed to enhance the ability of the Financial Stability...
2024-02-08 3:29 PM EST
SEC Charges TradeStation Crypto for Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Lending Product
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 7, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against TradeStation Crypto, Inc., based in Plantation, Florida, for failing to register the offer and sale of a crypto lending product that allowed U.S. investors to deposit or purchase crypto assets in a TradeStation account in exchange for the company’s promise to pay interest. To settle the SEC’s charges, TradeStation agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty. According to the...
2024-02-07 1:21 PM EST
SEC Charges China-Based Tech Company Cloopen Group with Accounting Fraud
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 6, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled accounting fraud charges against Cloopen Group Holding Limited, a China-based provider of cloud communications products and services whose American depositary shares formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The SEC determined not to impose civil penalties against Cloopen because the company self-reported its accounting issues, cooperated extensively with the staff's...
2024-02-06 4:36 PM EST
SEC Adopts Rules to Include Certain Significant Market Participants as "Dealers" or "Government Securities Dealers"
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 6, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted two rules that require market participants who engage in certain dealer roles, in particular those who take on significant liquidity-providing roles in the markets, to register with the SEC, become members of a self-regulatory organization (SRO), and comply with federal securities laws and regulatory obligations. “I am pleased to support this adoption because it requires that firms...
2024-02-06 12:04 PM EST
SEC Charges Founder of American Bitcoin Academy Online Crypto Course with Fraud Targeting Students
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 2, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Brian Sewell and his company, Rockwell Capital Management, agreed to settle fraud charges in connection with a scheme that targeted students taking Sewell’s online crypto trading course known as the American Bitcoin Academy. The SEC alleges that the fraudulent scheme cost 15 students $1.2 million. According to the SEC’s complaint, from at least early 2018 to mid-2019, Sewell...
2024-02-02 12:54 PM EST
SEC to Host Law School Summit Highlighting Need for Investor Access to Legal Counsel
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - February 2, 2024) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the date of its 2024 Investor Advocacy Clinic Summit, where law students and their professors will engage with SEC staff and invited guests about issues addressed and lessons learned while providing free legal services to underrepresented investors. The event, hosted by the SEC's Office of the Ombuds, will be held at SEC Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and livestreamed at...
2024-02-02 9:47 AM EST
SEC Charges Founder of $1.7 Billion "HyperFund" Crypto Pyramid Scheme and Top Promoter with Fraud
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 29, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Xue Lee (aka Sam Lee) and Brenda Chunga (aka Bitcoin Beautee) for their involvement in a fraudulent crypto asset pyramid scheme known as HyperFund that raised more than $1.7 billion from investors worldwide. According to the SEC’s complaint, from June 2020 through early 2022, Lee and Chunga promoted HyperFund “membership” packages, which they claimed guaranteed investors high returns,...
2024-01-29 5:57 PM EST
SEC Charges Northern Star SPAC for Material Misrepresentations in Its IPO-Related Disclosures
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Northern Star Investment Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), agreed to settle charges that it made misleading statements in forms filed with the SEC as part of its January 2021 initial public offering (IPO). According to the SEC’s order, Northern Star stated in its SEC filings that neither the company, nor anyone acting on its behalf, had initiated any...
2024-01-25 4:24 PM EST
SEC Charges Chicago-Based Aon Investments and Former Partner with Misleading Pennsylvania Public Employees' Pension Fund
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Aon Investments USA Inc., a Chicago-based registered investment adviser, and the firm’s former partner, Claire P. Shaughnessy, for misleading their client, the Pennsylvania Public Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), about the reason for a discrepancy between two different calculations by Aon of PSERS’s investment returns for the same period. The SEC’s orders...
2024-01-25 9:24 AM EST
SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance Investor Protections Relating to SPACs, Shell Companies, and Projections
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted new rules and amendments to enhance disclosures and provide additional investor protection in initial public offerings (IPOs) by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and in subsequent business combination transactions between SPACs and target companies (de-SPAC transactions). SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions can be used as a means for private companies to enter the public...
2024-01-24 11:18 AM EST
J.P. Morgan to Pay $18 Million for Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 16, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) for impeding hundreds of advisory clients and brokerage customers from reporting potential securities law violations to the SEC. JPMS agreed to pay an $18 million civil penalty to settle the charges. According to the SEC’s order, from March 2020 through July 2023, JPMS regularly asked retail clients to sign confidential...
2024-01-16 8:57 AM EST
SEC Charges Morgan Stanley and Former Executive Pawan Passi with Fraud in Block Trading Business
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - January 12, 2024) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged investment banking giant Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and the former head of its equity syndicate desk, Pawan Passi, with a multi-year fraud involving the disclosure of confidential information about the sale of large quantities of stock known as “block trades.” The SEC also charged Morgan Stanley with failing to enforce its policies concerning the misuse of material non-public information...
2024-01-12 8:40 AM EST