Articles Posted in SEC Press Releases

On March 26, 2013, the SEC charged a California-based hedge fund analyst, Matthew Teeple, with insider trading in advance of a merger of two technology companies Foundry Networks Inc. and Brocade Communication Systems Inc. Teeple received nonpublic information from his friend, Foundry’s Chief Information Officer David Riley. The SEC also charged Riley and another trader, John Jonson,…

On March 19, 2013, the SEC charged Craig Berkman, a former Oregon gubernatorial candidate, with defrauding investors by promising them access to pre-IPO shares of Facebook and other social-media companies. The SEC alleged that Berkman touted to investors that he had special access to scarce sources of pre-IPO stock in Facebook, LinkedIn, Groupon, and Zynga. Then, instead of purchasing…

On March 15, 2013, the SEC charged a group of Canadian stock promoters, two San Diego attorneys, a Bahamas-based broker-dealer, and other participants in an international “pump-and-dump” scheme involving two publicly traded U.S. companies, Pacific Blue Energy Corporation and Tradeshow Marketing Company Ltd. According to the SEC’s complaint, Canadian stock promoters John Kirk, Benjamin Kirk, Dylan Boyle, James Hinton, and…

On March 11, 2013, the SEC charged New York-based private equity firm Ranieri Partners, one of its former senior executives, and an unregistered broker with securities law violations for illegally soliciting more than $500 million in capital commitments for funds managed by the firm. William M. Stephens was the unregistered broker. Donald W. Phillips was the former…

On March 11, 2013, the SEC filed claims against the state of Illinois for securities fraud. The SEC claims that Illinois misled municipal bond investors about the state’s approach to funding its pension obligations and liabilities while it raised more than $2.2 billion in series of bond offerings from 2005-2009. According to the SEC, Illinois failed to inform…

On March 7, 2013, the SEC unanimously proposed new rules to require certain key market participants to have comprehensive policies and procedures in place surrounding their technological systems. The new rules would provide “more explicit technology and control standards to help ensure that our markets remain resilient against technological vulnerabilities.” The SEC’s proposal, called Regulation SCI,…

On March 1, 2013, the SEC filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York relating to the fraudulent offer and sale of limited partnership interests in two hedge funds, RAHFCO Funds LP and RAHFCO Growth Fund LP (“RAHFCO Hedge Funds”).The SEC charged RAHFCO Management Group, LLC,…

On March 4, 2013, the SEC released an investor alert that warned that they had “found significant deficiencies in the way that investment advisers are handling the custody of client assets.” In the alert, the SEC said “that in recent examinations, custody-related problems were identified in one-third of the firms reviewed, or about 140 firms. Advisors have failed…

On March 2, 2013, the SEC published its request for data and other information to assist them in considering whether to make new rules about the standards of conduct and regulatory obligations for broker-dealers and investment advisors when they provide personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers. This is effectively the SEC seeking comment on the possible uniform…

On February 21, 2013, the SEC released its 2013 examination priorities for a range of issues at financial institutions. Carlo V. di Florio, Director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, stated “we are publishing these priorities to promote compliance and communicate with investors and our registrants about areas that we perceive to have heightened…