The SEC has filed a complaint accusing Mozido’s founder, Michael Liberty, and four of his associates of defrauding investors out of over $48 million. The mobile payments startup allegedly used funds from investor accounts to sustain its managers’ luxurious lifestyles. The company’s CEO and his co-defendants allegedly advertised lucrative investments…
On January 16th, a settlement was reached to create new fiduciary committees to handle a complex transition at the bankrupt Woodbridge firm, following a SEC lawsuit over a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme run by Woodbridge founder Robert Shapiro, who will now be totally excluded from the restructuring process. Upon approval of…
In a commentary that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, referred to the new regulation scenario for cryptocurrency trading. In fact, they expanded the concept to ”distributed ledger technology (DLT)” defined…
According to former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White, the SEC insufficient examination of registered investment advisors is a “disaster waiting to happen.” Without adequate oversight, misconduct at small advisory firms could be building up for years. While FINRA and state regulators vet half of all registered broker-dealers…
Much has been said about the Trump’s administration effect on the SEC’s regulatory activities. Now, hard data confirms what we all suspected: under Trump, the Securities Exchange Commission has brought fewer enforcement actions and reduced its financial sanctions. A new study by a Georgetown University professor, covering fiscal year 2017,…
At a recent Securities Enforcement Forum in Washington DC, Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, discussed the agency’s future priorities. Avakian emphasized that the mission of the Enforcement Division, to protect investors, will remain unchanged, but she announced a slight shift in focus areas and resource allocation.…
The SEC has accused two former Alexander Capital LP brokers, William Gennity and Rocco Roveccio of engaging in unlawful trading and deception that caused their customers to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, while they earned a comparable amount in fees. Gennity and Roveccio both worked at Alexander Capital from…
The last few years have seen an improvement in economic activity in the US. After median family net worth remained stagnant between 2010 and 2013, house prices are now rising, corporate equity prices are also on the rise. But how does that translate in terms of traded stock ownership? In…
Ironridge Global Partners LLC has agreed to pay $4.4 million in disgorgement to settle claims that it incurred violations of the Exchange Act when its subsidiary Ironridge Global IV distributed billions of microcap shares without being a registered broker. According to the SEC order, Ironridge violated Section 15(a) of the…
The SEC recently asked a federal judge to freeze $5.4 million of Avalon FA Ltd.’s funds, on account of its practice of “layering.” A Seychelles investment firm run out of Ukraine, Avalon allegedly engaged in illegal market manipulation. Layering, in the SEC’s words is, “a scheme in which orders are…