SEC Charges Transamerica Financial Advisors With Improperly Calculating Advisory Fees and Overcharging Clients
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based financial services firm for improperly calculating advisory fees and overcharging clients. SEC examinations and a subsequent investigation found that Transamerica Financial Advisors offered breakpoint discounts designed to reduce the fees that clients owed to the firm when they increased their assets in certain investment programs. The firm permitted clients to aggregate the values of related accounts in order to get the discounts. However, Transamerica failed to process every aggregation request by clients and also had conflicting policies on whether representatives were required to pass on to clients…
Read MoreRebecca Olsen Named Chief Counsel in the Office of Municipal Securities
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Rebecca J. Olsen has been named chief counsel in its Office of Municipal Securities. Ms. Olsen joined the Office of Municipal Securities in 2013, where she made notable contributions to the municipal advisor registration rulemaking project, reviewed Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) rulemaking, and consulted with the Division of Enforcement on municipal securities enforcement matters. Previously, Ms. Olsen spent more than 10 years at Ballard Spahr LLP, where she practiced primarily in the municipal securities area. In her new role, Ms. Olsen will oversee analysis of legal issues that arise in the…
Read MoreJessica Kane Named Deputy Director in the Office of Municipal Securities
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Jessica S. Kane has been named deputy director in its Office of Municipal Securities. For the past year, Ms. Kane has served as senior special counsel to the director in the Office of Municipal Securities, where she has played a leading role on the municipal advisor registration rulemaking project and other municipal securities initiatives. She joined the SEC in 2007, where she worked on corporate securities disclosure matters in the Division of Corporation Finance from 2007 to 2012, and then worked in the SEC’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2012…
Read MoreSEC Charges Two Men With Insider Trading on Confidential Information From Their Wives
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced two separate cases against men who profited by insider trading on confidential information they learned from their wives about Silicon Valley-based tech companies. “Spouses and other family members may gain access to highly confidential information about public companies as part of their relationship of trust,” said Jina L. Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “In those circumstances, family members have a duty to protect and safeguard that information, not to trade on it.” The SEC alleges that Tyrone Hawk of Los Gatos, Calif., violated a duty of trust by trading…
Read MoreSEC Halts Pyramid Scheme Targeting Asian and Latino Communities
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges and asset freezes against the operators of a worldwide pyramid scheme targeting Asian and Latino communities in the U.S. and abroad. The SEC alleges that three entities collectively operating under the business names WCM and WCM777 are posing as multi-level marketing companies in the business of selling third-party cloud computing services, which can include website hosting, data storage, and software support. The entities are based in California and Hong Kong and controlled by “Phil” Ming Xu, who is a resident of Temple City, California. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal…
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