Harbinger’s Former Chief Operating Officer Agrees to Settle Charges for Assisting Hedge Fund Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the former chief operating officer at Harbinger Capital Partners LLC has agreed to settle charges that he assisted a scheme by the firm and its owner Philip A. Falcone to misappropriate millions of dollars from a hedge fund they managed to pay Falcone’s personal taxes. Peter A. Jenson, who was charged along with Falcone and Harbinger in a 2012 enforcement action by the SEC, has agreed to admit wrongdoing and pay a $200,000 penalty. He also agreed to be prohibited from working in the securities industry for at least two years, and…
Read MoreSEC Charges Smith & Wesson With FCPA Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when employees and representatives of the U.S.-based parent company authorized and made improper payments to foreign officials while trying to win contracts to supply firearm products to military and law enforcement overseas. Smith & Wesson, which profited by more than $100,000 from the one contract that was completed before the unlawful activity was identified, has agreed to pay $2 million to settle the SEC’s charges. The company must report to the SEC on its FCPA compliance efforts for a period…
Read MoreCitigroup Business Unit Charged With Failing to Protect Confidential Subscriber Data While Operating Alternative Trading System
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Citigroup business unit operating an alternative trading system (ATS) with failing to protect the confidential trading data of its subscribers. New York-based LavaFlow Inc. has agreed to pay $5 million to settle the SEC’s charges, including a $2.85 million penalty that is the agency’s largest to date against an ATS. An ATS is a venue that executes stock trades on behalf of broker-dealers and other traders. LavaFlow operates a type of ATS known as an electronic communications network (ECN), which unlike a dark pool displays some information about pending orders in its…
Read MoreSEC Charges Florida-Based Transfer Agent and Owner with Defrauding Investors
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has charged a Florida-based transfer agent and its owner with defrauding investors by using aggressive boiler room tactics to peddle worthless securities with promises of high returns or discounted prices. Transfer agents are typically used by publicly-traded companies to keep track of the individuals and entities that own their stocks and bonds. The SEC alleges that Cecil Franklin Speight, whose firm International Stock Transfer Inc. (IST) was a registered transfer agent, abused the transfer agent function by creating and issuing fake securities certificates to both U.S. and international investors. While investors collectively…
Read MoreSEC Announces Additional Charges in Football-Related Boiler Room Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a second round of charges against individuals behind a boiler room scheme that hyped a company whose new technology was purportedly Super Bowl-bound. The SEC previously charged the operators of the scheme based in the South Florida and Los Angeles areas. Seniors and other investors were pressured into purchasing stock in Thought Development Inc. (TDI), an unaffiliated Miami Beach-based company that stated its signature invention is a laser-line system that generates a green line on a football field for a first-down marker visible not only on television but also to players, officials, and…
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