The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Credit Suisse AG has agreed to pay a $90 million penalty and admit wrongdoing to settle charges that it misrepresented how it determined a key performance metric of its wealth management business. A former executive agreed to settle charges that he was a cause of Credit Suisse’s…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced fraud charges against an investment adviser accused of “cherry-picking” profitable trades for his own account rather than a client’s accounts, and misleading seniors and other clients about the fees he charged and the risks in investments he recommended. The SEC Enforcement Division alleges that Laurence I. Balter and…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Aaron W. Lipson has been named the Associate Regional Director for enforcement in the Atlanta office. Mr. Lipson began working in the Division of Enforcement in the Atlanta office in 2004 as a staff attorney, before becoming an Assistant Regional Director in 2010. In 2010, he also…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted to propose a rule amendment to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions from three business days after the trade date to two business days after the trade date. The proposed amendment is designed to reduce the risks that arise from the value and number…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Jennifer Marietta-Westberg, Deputy Chief Economist and Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, is planning to leave the agency after 10 years of public service. Dr. Marietta-Westberg joined the SEC as a Visiting Scholar in 2006. She became an Assistant Director in…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that a Portuguese-based telecommunications company has agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty for its failure to properly disclose the nature and extent of credit risk involved in its investments in debt instruments issued by companies of Portuguese conglomerate Grupo Espirito Santo. An SEC investigation found that Portugal Telecom…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that a self-proclaimed “stock trading whiz kid” and his stock newsletter company in Los Angeles have agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to settle charges that they defrauded subscribers through false statements and misrepresentations. According to the SEC’s complaint, Manuel E. Jesus and his newsletter company Wealthpire Inc.…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that a subsidiary of Oklahoma-based BOK Financial Corporation (BOKF:NASDAQ) has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle charges that it concealed numerous problems and red flags from investors in municipal bond offerings to purchase and renovate senior living facilities. The agency also filed a complaint in federal…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that two investment advisory firms are settling charges related to compliance failures within their wrap fee programs. SEC investigations found that St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Raymond James & Associates and Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. failed to establish policies and procedures necessary to determine the amount of commissions their…
Read moreThe Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Sarah G. ten Siethoff has been named Deputy Associate Director in the Division of Investment Management’s Rulemaking Office. As Deputy Associate Director, Ms. ten Siethoff will develop recommendations for rulemaking and other policy initiatives under the Investment Company and Investment Advisers Acts of 1940. Ms. ten Siethoff also…
Read more