The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it has obtained an emergency court order freezing the profits from an alleged $13 million international fraud involving a Seattle-area microcap company and a Barcelona stock promoter.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has published for public comment an agreement among the securities self-regulatory organizations that is designed to improve detection of insider trading across the equities markets by centralizing surveillance, investigation, and enforcement under NYSE Regulation, Inc. (NYSE Regulation) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). Currently, each equity exchange is responsible for surveillance of trading on its market and any investigations and enforcement actions involving its members.
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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Wextrust Capital, LLC (Wextrust), its principals, and four affiliated Wextrust entities, alleging that defendants conducted a massive Ponzi-type scheme from 2005 or earlier that raised approximately $255 million from approximately 1,200 investors. The targets of the fraudulent offerings are primarily members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Simultaneous with the filing of the action, the Commission is seeking emergency relief from the Court to freeze the defendants’ assets and place the Wextrust entities under the control of a receiver to safeguard assets. The Commission is also seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the ongoing offerings and other immediate relief.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the distribution of more than $48 million to more than 12,000 investors who were victims of fraudulent financial reporting by media conglomerate Vivendi Universal, S.A. Investors receiving checks reside in the United States and in 15 other countries. More than half bought heir Vivendi stock on foreign exchanges and are receiving their Fair Fund distribution in euros.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement today announced a preliminary settlement in principle with UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services, Inc. (collectively, UBS) including proposed charges and a plan that would restore approximately $22 billion in liquidity to its customers who invested in auction rate securities (ARS).
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The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged six microcap companies, four company officers and several market professionals for their roles in a scheme to raise millions of dollars in capital through improperly registered stocks to fund the companies’ struggling businesses.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission staff today unveiled a new one-stop online reference site to assist mutual funds in their anti-money laundering (AML) compliance efforts, and launched a new centralized phone line specifically for securities firms to report the filing of a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) that may require immediate attention by the Commission.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement today announced a preliminary settlement in principle with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (Citi) including proposed charges and a plan that would give individual investors, small businesses, and charities all $7.5 billion of their money back from auction rate securities (ARS) they purchased from the firm. The agreement also would require Citi to use its best efforts to liquidate by the end of 2009 all of the approximately $12 billion worth of ARS the firm sold to retirement plans and other institutional investors.
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SEC Announces Panelists, Agenda for August 4 Roundtable on Performance of IFRS, U.S. GAAP During Subprime Crisis
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The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained emergency relief to stop an allegedly fraudulent scheme that raised over $7.2 million from investors who were told the money would be used in a business shredding and recycling used tires. However, as alleged in the SEC’s complaint, the tire shredding equipment did not work, there was no reasonable basis for Merklinger’s income and return figures, and the investors never received a dime from their investment.
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