In its third highest award to a tipster since the inception of its whistleblower program, the Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded an individual $20M for coming forward right away to disclose “valuable information” that allowed the regulator to swiftly bring an enforcement action against the wrongdoers before they could…
The SEC has adopted final rules to modernize the way companies are allowed to raise funds for their businesses via small and intrastate offerings, all the while keeping investor protections in place. The final rules include amendment to Securities Act Rule 147 and a new Securities Act Rule 147A for out-of-state…
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Fines Merrill Lynch $2.8M FINRA has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith Inc. $2.8 million. By settling, the firm is not denying or admitting to the self-regulatory organization’s charges. FINRA said because of system errors, Merrill Lynch inaccurately reported millions of trades. The regulator said…
A San Francisco-based hedge fund advisory firm has agreed to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges alleging its failure to notice that one its employees was engaged in insider trading. Artis Capital Management will disgorge the more than $5.1M in illicit rating profits made by employee Matthew G. Teeple…
NY Hedge Fund to Pay $413M to Settle Civil and Criminal Charges Over FCPA Violations Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has settled both criminal and civil charges accusing the New York hedge fund of paying bribes to obtain business in Africa. This is the first hedge fund to face punishment over…
Deutsche Bank Securities (DB) will pay a $9.5B penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for not properly safeguarding material nonpublic research information. Even though it is settling, Deutsche Bank is not denying or admitting to the findings. According to the regulator, Deutsche Bank urged its equity research analysts…
New Proposed Amendment Would Shorten Period for Settling Securities Transactions The SEC has voted to propose a rule amendment that would abbreviate the typical length of a settlement cycle period for the majority of broker-dealer securities transactions. Instead of having this period run from three business day following the…
Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) has admitted wrongdoing and will pay a penalty of $90 M to the SEC settle civil claims accusing the firm of misrepresenting how much it brought into its wealth management business. According to the regulator’s probe, Credit Suisse strayed from its methodology for figuring out…
SEC Claims Peruvian Attorneys and Broker-Dealer Manager Used Accounts to Insider Trade The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against three people in Peru, accusing them of insider trading prior to the merging two mining companies. The regulator wants penalties, disgorgement, and interest. According to the Commission,…
Merrill Lynch, a Bank of America Corp. (BAC) unit must pay a $12.5M fine to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission allegations accusing the brokerage firm of having weak controls that led to mini-flash crashes. This is the largest penalty ever imposed for alleged market access rule violations. According to the…