The Law of the Financial Markets from Top Securities Lawyers
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against African Gold Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), for violating Exchange Act provisions related to internal controls, reporting, and recordkeeping. The SEC’s order alleges that the SPAC’s former chief financial officer misappropriated approximately $1.2 million from the company’s […]
Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., a non-profit entity owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to file required disclosure forms related to the Church’s equity investments. The SEC also announced charges against the Church […]
The SEC has ordered The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) to pay $17 million in penalties for violating its SEC-approved Stress Testing and Clearing Fund Methodology rule. The regulatory body found that OCC failed to comply with its own rule during certain times between October 2019 and May 2021. OCC, based […]
We discussed this case previously in connection with the firm’s CEO,s attempts to avoid service of a subpoena and his refusal to comply. The company not only refused to comply, but it sued the SEC for violation of various statutes. See, What Happens if I Ignore an SEC Subpoena. Now […]
Former NBA player Paul Pierce was paid more than $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens in order to promote them on Twitter. He failed to disclose the payment and ultimately agreed to settle an SEC case by disgorging the $244,000 payment, plus interest and $1,115,000 million in penalties. That is a […]
The SEC has charged Milan Vinod Patel, a resident of Cumming, Georgia, for disseminating over 100 false rumors about publicly traded companies, resulting in more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. In the past, the SEC had charged four other individuals, namely Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and […]
Feb. 14, 2023 —The SEC has charged Christopher S. Kirchner, the former CEO and co-founder of Slync, Inc., a privately-held Texas-based software company, with securities fraud and misappropriation of funds. Kirchner allegedly fraudulently offered and sold more than $67 million of securities to multiple investors, more than $28 million of […]
Feb. 9, 2023, the SEC has taken action against Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd., commonly known as Kraken, for violating federal securities laws by failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto-asset staking-as-a-service program. Both Kraken entities have agreed to a settlement, which requires them to […]
Feb. 3, 2023 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game development and publishing company, agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges that it failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that the company could assess whether its disclosures pertaining […]
Feb. 2, 2023 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today published a staff report that provides a summary of the staff’s examinations of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) and discusses the state of competition, transparency, and conflicts of interest among NRSROs. “The Office of Credit Ratings is critical to […]
