The Australian Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that the Federal Court has ordered iSignthis Ltd, now trading as Southern Cross Payments Ltd, to pay a $10 million penalty for breaching disclosure laws, while its former CEO, Nickolas John Karantzis, has been fined $1 million and banned from managing corporations for six years. According to…
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Pugh was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of one count of conspiracy to defraud. He had earlier pleaded guilty to carrying out unauthorised regulated activity and breaching sections 19 and 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Through his fraudulent Imperial Investment Fund (IIF), Pugh is said to have targeted 238 investors,…
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According to FINRA, in July 2021, Goldman acted as lead underwriter for an IPO that raised approximately $700 million. Around 13.5% of the proceeds, $96 million, were used to repay a loan from a Goldman affiliate. FINRA said this constituted a conflict of interest, requiring the involvement of a qualified independent underwriter (QIU) to oversee…
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FINRA claims that from July 2019 onwards, Odeon Capital, a New York-based broker-dealer, failed to establish a supervisory system capable of identifying potentially manipulative prearranged trading, an illegal practice where buyers and sellers collude to execute trades at predetermined prices. FINRA found that the firm’s daily trade reports were not equipped to detect such patterns…
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According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent published by FINRA, the firm conducted securities business on 96 days without maintaining the minimum required net capital, in violation of the Securities Exchange Act and multiple FINRA rules. The deficiencies are said to have stemmed from improperly structured underwriting agreements, unauthorised capital withdrawals by firm…
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The FCA stated in a release that it decided to fine Mr Woodford £5.89 million and ban him from senior management and fund management roles for retail investors. WIM faces a proposed fine of £40 million. Both parties have referred the decision notices to the Upper Tribunal and may contest the FCA’s findings. The FCA…
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KeyInvest, a life insurance company and friendly society primarily offering funeral bonds, was subject to an independent review at APRA’s request. The review is said to have uncovered deficiencies in its risk controls and raised concerns over board oversight of long-term strategic objectives. As a result, APRA applied a $5.5 million operational risk capital add-on…
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The regulator revealed that between December 2018 and December 2023, Sigma submitted nearly 925,000 incorrect reports, representing almost all of its transactions during that time. The FCA said the errors stemmed from incorrect system setup and remained uncorrected due to weaknesses in Sigma’s reporting processes. “The transaction reports we receive are crucial to the work…
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FINRA stated that between July and September 2022, TradeStation issued promotional materials across its website, emails, and social media platforms that failed to clearly state that crypto assets were not offered through TradeStation itself but through an affiliated entity. The affiliate was not a FINRA member or registered broker-dealer. According to FINRA, some communications gave…
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According to FINRA, the fine is related to private placement solicitations and telemarketing practices between May 2021 and December 2023. The Florida-based brokerage reportedly failed to establish, maintain and enforce adequate supervisory systems and written procedures to ensure compliance with securities laws and telemarketing rules. The firm was found to have violated FINRA Rules 3110,…
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