FINRA Enforcement Actions: Month in Review
(Jun 2014)
MAY 2014 SELECTED FINRA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FIRMS FINED
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC (CRD #14020, Chicago, Illinois)
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC consented to a censure and $95,000 fine for allegedly failing "to report short interest positions to the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA on certain settlement dates, and submitt[ing] to FINRA an inaccurate short-interest position report." FINRA found that the firm's supervisory system did not provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - February 14th, 2014
(Feb 2014)
SEC Charges James Y. Lee for Defrauding His Advisory Clients
February 14, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22927)
According to the complaint, James Y. Lee defrauded his advisory clients in several ways including "charg[ing] some clients fees...based on false performance and conceal[ing] from them that they had actually incurred realized losses," failing to disclose information about his background including "a criminal conviction for embezzlement and an SEC cease-and-desist order for his role in...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - January 17th, 2014
(Jan 2014)
SEC Charges Former Senior Executives of Public Company Subsidiary with Falsifying Financial Records and Circumventing Internal Controls
January 15, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22906)
This week, the SEC announced charges against Christopher Hohol and Brian Poshak, "formerly the senior vice president for operations and the controller, respectively, of Veolia Special Services, a fourth-tier United States subsidiary of Veolia Environnement S.A." According to the SEC, the defendants falsified...
SPIVA Scorecard: Persistent Lack of Persistence
(Dec 2013)
Earlier this week, S&P Dow Jones Indices released their semiannual SPIVA Persistence Scorecard, which assesses how consistent top performingactively managed US equity mutual funds have been. This is the third SPIVA release since our blog has been in existence and each time we bring attention to their work. Once again, their results suggest that mutual fund managers only rarely outperform for long.
This year the study found that roughly 7% of funds that were in the top 25% of actively managed...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - December 6th, 2013
(Dec 2013)
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Massachusetts-Based Broker and Investment Adviser
December 5, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22885)
Final judgments were entered against Arnett L. Waters and two entities he controlled, "broker-dealer A.L. Waters Capital, LLC and investment adviser Moneta Management, LLC," for their alleged involvement in the "fraudulent sales of fictitious investment-related partnerships." The final judgment enjoins the defendants from future violations of the securities laws...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review (Part I) - October 4th, 2013
(Oct 2013)
SEC Files Fraud Charges Against Universal Travel Group, Its Former CEO and Chair, Jiangping Jiang, and Its Former Director, Secretary and Interim CFO, Jing Xie
September 27, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22823)
The SEC announced the filing of "fraud and related charges against Universal Travel Group, a China-based travel services company, its former CEO and Chair, Jiangping Jiang, and its former Director, Secretary and Interim CFO, Jing Xie." According to the SEC, Jiang and Xie "failed to...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - September 13th, 2013
(Sep 2013)
SEC Charges Atlanta-Based Investment Adviser Representative with Securities Fraud
September 12, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22797)
Earlier this week, the SEC chargedPaul Marshall, Bridge Securities, LLC, Bridge Equity, Inc. and FOGFuels, Inc. with misappropriation of client funds as well as violations of Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC alleges that over the past two years, Marshall has misappropriated "at least $2...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 14th, 2013
(Jun 2013)
Former Yahoo Executive Settles SEC Insider Trading Case
June 12, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22726)
A final judgment was entered against Robert W. Kwok, a former Senior Director of Business Management at Yahoo! Inc., for allegedly trading on nonpublic information "concerning Yahoo and Moldflow Corporation." According to the SEC, in April 2008 Kwok learned of an upcoming acquisition of Moldflow by Autodesk, Inc. from Reema Shah, "a former mutual fund and hedge fund portfolio manager at...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 7th, 2013
(Jun 2013)
Final Judgments Entered Against Former Nicor Senior Officers Kathleen Halloran and George Behrens
June 5, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22715)
Final judgments were entered against Kathleen Halloran and George Behrens, former CFO and former Treasurer of Nicor, Inc. respectively, for allegedly overstating "Nicor's financial performance...by, among other things, making or authorizing false and misleading statements about Nicor's performance in multiple filings with the Commission." The SEC...
SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - April 19th, 2013
(Apr 2013)
SEC Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against Andrew Farmer and Iridium Capital, Ltd. for Failure To Produce Documents in Market Manipulation Investigation
April 18, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22680)
Last week, the SEC filed a subpoena enforcement action against Andrew Farmer and Iridium Capital, Ltd. "According to the filing, the SEC is investigating possible market manipulation in connection with transactions in the securities of Chimera Energy Corporation." Subpoenas were issued last...
