As I did in FY 2014, I am again tracking the SEC's trials and outcomes for FY 2015 in this running SEC Trial Scorecard. 

 

To date in FY 2015, which began on October 1, 2014, the SEC has had three trials in federal court reach a verdict (see the full list below). The most recent verdict was announced last night in the case of SEC v. BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc. and Alan B. Levan.  According to Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's Director of Enforcement, a federal jury in Miami found after a six-week trial that

CEO Alan Levan’s 2007 statements during BBX’s second quarter earnings conference call fraudulently misled investors regarding the financial health of the bank, that BBX’s 2007 annual report fraudulently understated the Bank’s loss for that year by approximately $53 million, and that Levan and BBX engaged in a course of business that operated as a fraud throughout 2007.

Reuters reports that the jury also found in favor of BBX and Levan on some of the SEC's claims. Ceresney stated that the agency was pleased with the verdict; a lawyer for the defendants said that they planned to file an appeal.

Overall, the SEC's scorecard in FY 2015 now includes three trials. In two trials, the SEC won on all of its claims, and in this most recent trial the verdict was mixed. Here is the list as it currently stands:

 

SEC v. iShopNoMarkup.com, Inc.:  VERDICT—FOR SEC (Oct. 2014)

SEC v. Kokesh: VERDICT—FOR  SEC (Nov. 2014)

SEC v. BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc. and Alan B. Levan: VERDICT—MIXED (Dec. 2014)

 

Topics