The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued proposals that would amend its rules governing its use of administrative law judges in enforcement proceedings. The proposed amendments come in the wake of criticism and lawsuits contending that having in-house judges preside over SEC cases gives the regulator an unfair advantage over…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging First Eagle Investment Management and its distribution arm FEF Distributors with improperly using the assets of mutual fund shareholders to pay two broker-dealers to market and distribute its funds. To settle the charges, both entities will pay $40 million, which will go toward…
District Court Judge Richard Berman in New York has rejected the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request that a preliminary injunction on its use of administrative law judges in its proceedings be lifted. Berman said that the regulator has not shown “likely success” in its claim that the ALJ process is…
Taberna Capital Management has consented to pay $21 million to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges alleging that it fraudulently kept fees that belonged to collateralized debt obligation clients. According to the regulator, the investment advisor retained “exchange fees” related to restructuring transactions, which was not allowed under the CDOs…
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Citigroup Global Markets (C) will pay a $15M penalty to settle charges that it did not enforce procedures and policies that would stop and identify securities transactions potentially involving the wrongful use of material, nonpublic information. Citigroup agreed to the SEC’s order without…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed financial fraud charges against 32 defendants accused of insider trading by using information obtained from newswire services that were hacked. Two Ukrainians and 30 other defendants in the U.S. and abroad are accused of making $100 million in illegal gains. According to the…
ITG Inc. and affiliate AlterNet Securities will pay $20.3M to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing them of running a secret trading desk and misusing dark pool subscribers’ confidential trading information. As part of the settlement, ITG admitted to wrongdoing. According to the regulator, even though it told the…
A U.S. district court judge says that Barbara Duka’s lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission can move forward. Duka used to be the head of Standard & Poor’s commercial mortgage-backed securities group. She is challenging the regulator’s decision to appoint an administrative law judge to preside over its securities…
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Scott A. Einsler, Arthur W. Lewis, and Robert Okin, three former Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) employees, have settled charges involving the unregistered sales of billions of shares of penny stocks for a customer. The actions are related to part of an enforcement action…
In the third highest award that the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued under its whistleblower program, the regulator is giving one individual $3 million for providing information that helped expose a complex fraud. The tip provided by the whistleblower included details and specifics about the scam, which would have…