SEC Charges Egan-Jones Ratings Co. and CEO with Conflict of Interest Violations

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Haverford, PA-based Egan-Jones Ratings Company, a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) registered with the Commission in certain ratings classes, with violating conflict of interest provisions. The SEC also charged the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Sean Egan, with causing certain of those violations. The SEC’s order finds that,...

SEC Charges Firm and Five Brokers with Violations of Reg BI

Brokerage firm sold $13.3 million worth of high-risk bonds to retirees and other retail investors Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged registered broker-dealer Western International Securities, Inc. and five of its registered representatives, or brokers – Nancy Cole, Patrick Egan, Andy Gitipityapon, Steven Graham, and Thomas Swan – with violating Best Interest Obligation regulations (commonly referred...

Synchronoss Technologies and senior employees charged with accounting-related misconduct

SEC Charges New Jersey Software Company and Senior Employees with Accounting-Related Misconduct Synchronoss Technologies to Pay $12.5 Million to Settle Charges, Former CEO to Reimburse Company Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Bridgewater, NJ-based Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. and seven senior employees, including the former CFO, in connection with their roles related to long-running accounting improprieties that ran...

Aitana Vargas’s exposé on Hadari Oshri nominated for journalism award

Oshri tried to stop the release of Vargas's series exposing her alleged participation in a $370M PPE scheme In June 2021, Investor News reporter Aitana Vargas was served with court papers to stop the release of her months-long investigative series exposing entrepreneur Hadari Oshri's participation in an alleged multimillion-dollar PPE scam with conman Marc Lubaszka. In September 2021, Oshri's meritless legal...

SEC Charges Wells Fargo Advisors With Anti-Money Laundering Related Violations

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Wells Fargo Advisors for failing to file at least 34 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in a timely manner between April 2017 and October 2021. Wells Fargo Advisors, the St. Louis-based broker-dealer, has agreed to pay $7 million to settle the charges. According to the SEC’s order, due to...

Allianz Global Investors Agrees to Pay More Than $1 Billion to Resolve SEC Charges

SEC Charges Allianz Global Investors and Three Former Senior Portfolio Managers with Multibillion Dollar Securities Fraud Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week charged Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC (AGI US) and three former senior portfolio managers with a massive fraudulent scheme that concealed the immense downside risks of a complex options trading strategy they called...

SEC Obtains Emergency Relief to Halt Pre-IPO Stock Fraud Scheme by Unregistered Broker-Dealer

Defendants, including persons barred from the brokerage industry, allegedly sold shares they didn’t own, and pocketed more than $75 million Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that it obtained asset freezes and other emergency relief against StraightPath Venture Partners LLC, StraightPath Management LLC, Brian K. Martinsen, Michael A. Castillero, Francine A. Lanaia, and Eric D....

SEC Extends Comment Period for Proposed Rules on Climate-Related Disclosures, Reopens Comment Periods for Proposed Rules Regarding Private Fund Advisers and Regulation ATS

Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission this week announced that it has extended the public comment period on the proposed rulemaking to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures for investors until June 17, 2022. The SEC also announced that it will reopen the comment periods on the proposed rulemaking to enhance private fund investor protection and on the...

Founders of cryptomining scheme accused of using investments to fund lavish lifestyle

SEC Halts Fraudulent Cryptomining and Trading Scheme Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission this week announced fraud charges against MCC International Corp. (MCC), which does business as Mining Capital Coin Corp., its founders Luiz Carlos Capuci, Jr. (aka Junior Caputti or Capuci) and Emerson Souza Pires (Pires), and two other entities controlled by Capuci, CPTLCoin Corp. (CPTLCoin) and...

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....