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 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…
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 will award a whistleblower more than $600,000 for providing original information that resulted in a successful enforcement action. That’s 30% of the total monies collected related to the case, In the Matter of Paradigm Capital Management, Inc. and Candace King Weir. It’s also the maximum…
According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and its Merrill Lynch unit to find out if the lender broke rules established to protect customers accounts. According to sources in the know, over a three-year period, Merrill Lynch used…
BlackRock Advisors (BLK) has consented to be pay $12M resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges claiming that a conflict of interest that occurred because a former portfolio manager’s outside business activity was not disclosed. Additionally, the firm agreed to a censure and will retain an independent compliance consultant to perform…
The SEC has brought its first case for whistleblower protection violations involving Rule 21F-17. The Commission claims that KBR Inc. used language in confidentiality agreements that were improperly restrictive and could potentially impede the whistleblower process. According to the regulator, KBR required that witnesses involved in certain internal investigative interviews…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at efforts by banks to comply with capital rules. The regulator is searching for improper activities involving the way these financial institutions value complicated assets, as well as transactions used to transfer risks to other entities. Following the financial crisis, when governments were…