Historically, the SEC has fiercely protected the rights of retail investors, and is constantly churning out enforcement actions against investment advisers it alleges have defrauded and manipulated its customers. So, it was somewhat unusual the agency issued an enforcement action this week that involved protecting the rights of institutional investors.
Regulatory Enforcement
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
‘Biblically responsible’ investment adviser ordered to pay $300K over misleading investors
A “biblically responsible” investment adviser agreed to pay $300,000 and hire an independent compliance consultant to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors, along with other compliance failures.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Prager Metis agrees to pay $2M over failed audits, including FTX
Waves of fallout from the collapse of cryptocurrency trading platform FTX continue to ripple, as accounting firm Prager Metis has learned.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
SEC charges Kubient ‘gatekeepers’ with failing to stop CEO’s AI fraud
Gatekeepers including chief financial officers and the chair of the audit committee have a responsibility to shareholders to report fraud wherever they find it–especially when that fraud involves an artificial intelligence tool meant to combat fraud.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC nets $1.3M in off-channel comms sweep against municipal advisory firms
Fines for off-channel communications use by employees just keep on coming, with 12 municipal advisory firms fined a total of $1.3 million in the latest Securities and Exchange Commission sweep.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
DOJ orders Walgreens to pay $107M for fraudulent claims caused by Rx ‘software error’
Walgreens agreed to pay nearly $107 million to resolve allegations, first brought by two whisteblowers, that it improperly billed federal healthcare programs for prescriptions that were never picked up or delivered.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
FINRA fines Wells Fargo unit $3M for repeatedly pushing ‘unsuitable’ investments
A Wells Fargo subsidiary will pay nearly $3 million to settle allegations that it failed to properly supervise an employee attempting to sell unsuitable investment products to retail investors–the fifth time it has been penalized for similar supervisory failings since 2020.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Chinese regulators impose six-month ban, $62M fine on PwC’s China unit
Chinese authorities banned PwC’s Chinese unit from performing audits in the country for six months, labeling the subsidiary’s flawed audit work as complicit in the failure of giant property developer Evergrande.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Budweiser Budvar registration failures show ESG impacts of U.K. noncompliance
Most businesses think more about their products than what they come wrapped in, but a recent U.K. penalty against Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar indicates packaging is an increasingly important element in sustainability regulations.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC charges three Medly execs with fraud for investment scheme
Former executives of Medly, an online pharmacy that is now shuttered, have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding investors.
