Clearly, FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory authority, is not happy with the National Securities Corp. FINRA has ordered NSC to pay approximately $9 million, “including disgorgement of $4.77 million in net profits the firm received for underwriting 10 public offerings in which NSC attempted to artificially influence the market for the offered securities.” The firm neither confirms nor… Read More >>
FINRA May Hire More Crypto Crime-Fighters
FINRA appears to be in the market for crypto crime-fighters just as pioneering cryptocurrency players have laid off significant percentages of their workforce as the crypto crash/winter takes hold. The crypto slump has been underway for weeks and has driven down the value of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies amid volatile markets rocked by inflation, war, interest… Read More >>
Weiss Asset Management Penalized $6.9M via SEC Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission reports that Weiss Asset Management LP, an investment advisory firm known by its acronym WAM, has agreed to pay approximately $6.9 million to settle charges that “it violated the federal securities laws when it unlawfully purchased stock in seven public offerings after selling short those same stocks.” Specifically, the WAM… Read More >>
DTCC’s 20022 Corporate Actions Leap & Other News
DTC & Broadridge Score a Corporate Actions First With help from Broadridge Financial Solutions, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) reports that it has taken a big step toward fully automating the corporate actions lifecycle via its subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company (DTC). The DTC processed the “first-ever, fully-automated voluntary reorganization ISO 20022 instruction,” part… Read More >>
Schwab Subsidiaries Settle SEC Case for $187M
Three Charles Schwab investment adviser subsidiaries have agreed to pay a total of $187 million to settle SEC allegations that a robo-adviser system, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios (SIP), facilitated cash allocations in investors’ portfolios that ultimately lowered their returns “by approximately the same amount as an advisory fee would have,” according to the regulator. “Without admitting… Read More >>
Crypto Scams Rob Investors of $575M: FTC
Some day digital fraudsters tricking regular folks out of their hard-earned money by promising a big-bucks payday for only a few hundred (or a few thousand) up front will spend a lot of hours inside courtrooms. And a lot of dollars on high-priced lawyers paid to get them out of their legal jams. Today is… Read More >>
CFTC Sues Gemini Over Bitcoin Futures Offering Data
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing Gemini Trust Company, based in New York City, alleging that in 2017 the cryptocurrency exchange made false or misleading statements to the CFTC about the self-certification of a bitcoin futures product. The regulator has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of… Read More >>
Ad Campaign Exposes SEC’s Sense of Humor
Move over, “Jeopardy,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” “The Price is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune!” There’s a new game show in town and it’s backed by a well-known sheriff — the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — now with a sense of humor. Well, sort of. No one expects a barrel of laughs to… Read More >>
BNY Mellon Unit & SEC Resolve ESG Omissions Case
BNY Mellon Investment Adviser (BNYMIA) is paying a $1.5 million penalty to the SEC to settle charges that it made “misstatements and omissions” about the mutual fund reviews that were intended to verify whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns were considered when investment decisions were made. As the SEC explains in its order, its… Read More >>
Crypto’s Pitfalls Are the Focus of a New Guide
Say this for the computer kids who bought into the Great Crypto Scam: They (and others who dream of easy riches) are determined to tie themselves to the blockchain, no matter what. Even the recent $300 billion drop in value across the crypto economy (as calculated by the New York Times) hasn’t dissuaded them. The… Read More >>
