Cicely LaMothe Named Associate Director in the Division of Corporation Finance
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Cicely LaMothe has been named as an associate director in the agency's Division of Corporation Finance. In her new position, Ms. LaMothe will join associate directors Paul Belvin, James Daly, Karen Garnett, and Barry Summer in overseeing the division’s disclosure program under the leadership of deputy director Shelley Parratt. “I am delighted to welcome Cicely to the division’s senior leadership team. Her experience and skills as an accountant will enhance our oversight of corporate disclosure,” said Keith Higgins, director of the Division of Corporation Finance. Ms. LaMothe joined the division in 2002…
Read MoreSEC Charges Hedge Fund Adviser With Conducting Conflicted Transactions and Retaliating Against Whistleblower
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an Albany, N.Y.-based hedge fund advisory firm with engaging in prohibited principal transactions and then retaliating against the employee who reported the trading activity to the SEC. This is the first time the SEC has filed a case under its new authority to bring anti-retaliation enforcement actions. The SEC also charged the firm’s owner with causing the improper principal transactions. Paradigm Capital Management and owner Candace King Weir agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle the charges. According to the SEC’s order instituting a settled administrative proceeding, Weir conducted transactions between Paradigm and…
Read MoreSEC Charges Four California Residents in $12 Million Insider Trading Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four Northern California residents with insider trading in Ross Stores stock options based on nonpublic information about monthly sales results leaked by one of the retailer’s employees. The SEC alleges that Saleem Khan was routinely tipped by his friend Roshanlal Chaganlal, who was a director in the finance department at Ross headquarters in Dublin, Calif. Khan used the confidential information to illegally trade on more than 40 occasions ahead of the company’s public release of financial results. Besides trading in his own brokerage account, Khan traded in his brother-in-law’s account as well as…
Read MoreChicago-Area Attorney Charged After SEC Exam Spots Fraud in Real Estate Investment Offering
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the founder of an investment advisory firm located in suburban Chicago with defrauding investors in connection with a real estate venture for which his firm offered securities. After an SEC examination of Kenilworth Asset Management LLC detected potential misconduct that was referred to the agency’s Enforcement Division, the ensuing investigation found that Robert C. Acri misled clients in the offer and sale of promissory notes issued for the redevelopment of a retail shopping center near Hammond, Ind. Despite saying the investments would specifically be used for this project and secured by a security…
Read MoreSEC Announces Charges Against Wedbush Securities and Two Officials for Market Access Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against a Los Angeles-based market access provider and two officials accused of violating the agency’s market access rule that requires firms to have adequate risk controls in place before providing customers with access to the market. The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that Wedbush Securities Inc., which has consistently ranked as one of the five largest firms by trading volume on NASDAQ, failed to maintain direct and exclusive control over settings in trading platforms used by its customers to send orders to the markets. Wedbush did not have the required pre-trade controls, failed…
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