Betterment Settles SEC Charges Concerning Tax Loss Harvesting Service

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged investment advisory firm Betterment LLC for material misstatements and omissions related to its automated tax loss harvesting service (TLH), failing to provide clients with notice of contract changes, and failing to maintain certain required books and records. Betterment agreed to pay a $9 million penalty to settle the charges and distribute funds to affected clients.

The SEC’s order finds that, from 2016 to 2019, Betterment, in communicating with clients, misstated or omitted several material facts concerning TLH, a service that scans clients’ accounts for opportunities to reduce their tax burden. According to the order, at different times, Betterment failed to disclose a change in the software related to its scanning frequency, failed to disclose a programming constraint affecting certain clients, and had two computer coding errors that prevented TLH from harvesting losses for some clients. Collectively, these issues adversely impacted more than 25,000 client accounts, resulting in those clients losing approximately $4 million in potential tax benefits.

The SEC’s order also finds that Betterment failed to provide advance notice of changes to its advisory contract, which is a violation of its fiduciary duty as an investment adviser, and failed, during certain times, to maintain accurate and current books and records reflecting written agreements with certain clients. Also, the order finds that, in connection with the failures related to TLH, Betterment failed to adopt and implement written compliance policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

“Robo-advisers have the same obligations as all investment advisers to ensure they are transparent about services they provide and upfront about any material changes to those services or issues that may negatively affect clients,” said Antonia M. Apps, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Betterment did not describe its tax loss harvesting service accurately, and it wasn’t transparent about the service’s changes, constraints, and coding errors that adversely impacted thousands of clients.”

Betterment consented to the entry of the SEC’s order finding that it violated Sections 204, 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and related rules. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Betterment agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a censure, and to pay a $9 million civil penalty that will be distributed to affected clients.

The attorneys at Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC are former SEC Staff Attorneys and brokerage firm counsel, with over 100 years of collective experience. If you have received a subpoena from the SEC, a document request from FINRA, or have a dispute with a brokerage firm, call 212-509-6544 for a free consultation. The firm represents investors and financial professionals nationwide.

Securities Attorney at Sallah Astarita & Cox | 212-509-6544 | mja@sallahlaw.com | Website | + posts

Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.

He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.

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