A federal judge has ruled that the decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to have an in-house judge in an insider trading case was “likely unconstitutional.” In the wake of his decision, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May agreed to put a temporary stop to the regulator’s administrative case…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is filing insider trading charges against four persons accused of stealing confidential data from investment banks and public company clients so they could trade prior to secondary stock offerings. The four of them allegedly made over $4.4 million in illegal trading profits. Some 15 stocks…
The SEC said that Merrill Lynch (MER) would pay $11 million to resolve allegations of short-selling-related noncompliance. The regulator said that the wirehouse executed short sales in certain securities when the supply for this type of transaction was restricted. Customers frequently ask brokerage firms to “locate” stock that can be…
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has ordered Sage Advisory Group and principal Benjamin Lee Grant (“Lee Grant”) to pay over $1M for two SEC fraud cases. The ruling comes after a federal jury found both of them liable. In the first case, the regulator is…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division has filed fraud charges against William Quigley, the former compliance director of Trident Partners Ltd. According to the regulator, Quigley solicited investors to purchase stock in start-ups that were supposedly about to go public, as well as well-known companies, but never actually…
William Galvin, the securities regulator of Massachusetts, is suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Galvin is seeking to stop new rules that he believes restricts state oversight of stock offerings made by emerging and small companies. With the newly adopted rules, offerings starting at $20 million would only need…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering Deutsche Bank AG (DB) to pay $55M to resolve charges accusing the firm of misstating financial reports during the peak of economic crisis. The regulator believes that the financial institution did not factor the material risk for possible losses of billions of…
Nationwide Life Insurance Co. has ben ordered to pay an $8 million penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for purposely delaying variable annuity and life insurance policy orders and that this led to company’s failure to price these orders in a timely manner. From 1995 to 2011 clients…
The SEC is accusing investment advisory firm Gray Financial, its co-CEO Robert C. Hubbard IV, and president/founder Laurence O. Gray with fraud. The regulator claims that the three of them of breached their duty to clients by directing certain pension funds to invest in a firm-offered alternative investment even while…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing eCareer Holdings Inc. and its executives for fraud. According to the regulator, the online staffing company bilked over 400 investors of $11 million when it miserpresented the company and sold shares that were unregistered. Also accused of fraud are three boiler room brokers…