SEC Commissioner Wants Big Broker-Dealers To Hold More Capital Securities and Exchange Commissioner Kara M. Stein wants the regulator to modify its capital rules for large brokerage firms so that they would be required to hold more capital in the event of a funding crisis. Stein wants the regulation to…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Attorney Robert C. Acri with Illinois securities fraud related to a real estate venture. Acri is the founder of Kenilworth Asset Management, LLC, a Chicago-based investment advisory firm. He has agreed to settle by disgorging the funds that were misappropriated from investors, as…
The SEC has submitted an order against Dennis J. Malouf accusing him of investment adviser fraud. The regulator says that he allegedly took trading commissions that he wasn’t entitled to for himself. He was in charge of UASNM’s bond trading operation between 2008 and May 2011. Malouf, who was the…
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White said that the regulator is working on new rules that would target dark pools, high-speed traders, order-routing practices, and trading venues that don’t offer much transparency. Her proposed regulations mark the first time she has spoken about her plans to overhaul…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is temporarily shutting down investment adviser Scott Valente and his ELIV Group LLC. The regulator is charging both with defrauding about 80 investors of $8.8 million. The regulator says that Valente promised huge returns to customers, who are mostly from the Warwick and Albany…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging United Neighborhood Organization of Chicago and UNO Charter School Network Inc. with bilking investors in a $37.5 million bond fraud offering. The SEC contends that the charter school operator made statements that were materially misleading about transactions where there was a conflict of…
The SEC announced that it is filing fraud charges against IST Shareholder Services, a transfer agent based in Illinois, and its owner Robert G. Pearson. The regulator also obtained an emergency asset freeze in this matter. IST Shareholder Services is registered with the SEC under the name Illinois Stock Transfer…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges in a number of penny stock scams involving microcap companies, promoters, and officers. As of March 22, the regulator had charged 25 companies and 48 individuals in probes that originated out of its regional office in Miami. The agency has been…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has put out a an investor alert warning about possible fraud involving microcap companies claiming they are involved in the marijuana industry. Scammers are using the latest growth in the pot industry to get investors to fork over their money in exchange for supposed…
Wynnefield Capital Inc. Principal On Trial in SEC Insider Trading Case Nelson Obus, the principal of Wynnefield Capital Inc., is accused of engaging in insider trading to make his hedge fund $1.3 million. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says that he confessed twice that he received a tip that…