SEC Nearly Doubles Size of Enforcement’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit
Washington D.C., May 3, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the allocation of 20 additional positions to the unit responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats. The newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly known as the Cyber Unit) in the Division of Enforcement will grow to 50 dedicated positions.
"The U.S....
President of Synergy Settlement Services accused of misusing beneficiaries’ funds on golf tournaments and beach parties
Defendants allegedly used funds from deceased beneficiaries’ accounts on golf tournaments and beach parties
Washington D.C., May 2, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against Synergy Settlement Services, Inc., CEO Jason D. Lazarus, Esq., both based in Orlando, FL, and President Anthony F. Prieto, Jr. of Tampa, FL, for allegedly defrauding individuals with disabilities into...
SEC Announces Older Investor Roundtable Virtual Event on April 28
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a virtual event on April 28 along with the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and the AARP to examine the latest challenges and issues affecting the senior investor community.
The Older Investor Roundtable will include panel discussions geared toward older investors, consumer advocates, and financial professionals nationwide as topics...
Check out SEC’s updated list of firms using inaccurate information to solicit investors
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it updated its list of unregistered entities that use misleading information to solicit primarily non-U.S. investors, adding 58 soliciting entities, 11 impersonators of genuine firms, and one bogus regulator.
The SEC’s list of soliciting entities that have been the subject of investor complaints, known as the Public Alert: Unregistered...
16 defendants charged in international $194M “pump and dump” plots
SEC Uncovers $194 Million Penny Stock Schemes that Spanned Three Continents
This week the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against 16 defendants, located in the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Monaco, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, for participating in multi-year fraudulent penny stock schemes that generated more than $194 million in illicit proceeds....
Former CFO of Publicly Traded Brazilian Company Charged in Fraud Scheme
A superseding indictment was unsealed today in the Southern District of Iowa charging the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of publicly traded reinsurance company, IRB Brasil Resseguros SA, aka IRB Brasil RE (IRB), for fraudulently propping up its stock price by spreading false information that U.S. investment firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had invested in IRB.
According to court documents, Fernando...
TRO and asset freeze against alleged perpetrators of nearly $450M Ponzi Scheme
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges and an asset freeze against several Las Vegas-area individuals and companies allegedly behind a nearly half-billion dollar Ponzi scheme involving purported personal injury settlements. The SEC charged certain defendants with violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, certain individual defendants with acting as unregistered brokers,...
Former Goldman Sachs Investment Banker Convicted in Massive Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme
Roger Ng Found Guilty of Conspiring to Violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Commit Money Laundering in Connection with 1MDB Scheme
A former Managing Director of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Goldman Sachs) was convicted last week by a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to commit bribery, to circumvent internal accounting controls, and...
SEC Proposes Rules for the Registration and Regulation of Security-Based Swap Execution Facilities
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed this week new Regulation SE under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) to create a regime for the registration and regulation of security-based swap execution facilities (SBSEFs). The new regulatory framework was one of the major reforms required under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection...
SEC Proposes Rules to Include Certain Significant Market Participants as “Dealers” or “Government Securities Dealers”
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed proposed two rules that would require market participants, such as proprietary (or principal) trading firms, who assume certain dealer functions, in particular those who as act as liquidity providers in the markets, to register with the SEC, become members of a self-regulatory organization (SRO), and comply with federal securities...