Jennifer Marietta-Westberg, Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Economist of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, to Leave SEC after Ten Years of Service
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Jennifer Marietta-Westberg, Deputy Chief Economist and Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, is planning to leave the agency after 10 years of public service. Dr. Marietta-Westberg joined the SEC as a Visiting Scholar in 2006. She became an Assistant Director in 2010 and was appointed Deputy Chief Economist and Deputy Director in 2013. Dr. Marietta-Westberg oversees the provision of economic analysis in support of Commission policy and rulemaking in the areas of asset management, broker-dealers, credit rating agencies, and market microstructure. She was elected as the Chair…
Read More“Stock Trading Whiz Kid” to Pay $1.5 Million to Settle Stock Newsletter Fraud Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a self-proclaimed “stock trading whiz kid” and his stock newsletter company in Los Angeles have agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to settle charges that they defrauded subscribers through false statements and misrepresentations. According to the SEC’s complaint, Manuel E. Jesus and his newsletter company Wealthpire Inc. used advertising materials and websites touting him as “the untutored prodigy of stock investing” under the alias Manny Backus. A self-purported “math whiz” who boasted a “skyscraping” IQ and training as a professional chess player, Backus claimed to be actively trading in the stock market…
Read MoreSEC: Company Failed to Disclose Credit Risk in Investments
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a Portuguese-based telecommunications company has agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty for its failure to properly disclose the nature and extent of credit risk involved in its investments in debt instruments issued by companies of Portuguese conglomerate Grupo Espirito Santo. An SEC investigation found that Portugal Telecom SGPS S.A.’s 2013 financial statements had multiple disclosure failures. As a result of these failures, Portugal Telecom’s investors were unable to form an overall picture of the risks arising from the company’s investment in Grupo Espirito Santo debt instruments. The Grupo Espirito Santo investments…
Read MoreBOK Financial, Senior Executive Charged With Turning Blind Eye to Investment Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a subsidiary of Oklahoma-based BOK Financial Corporation has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle charges that it concealed numerous problems and red flags from investors in municipal bond offerings to purchase and renovate senior living facilities. The agency also filed a complaint in federal court against a former senior vice president at the bank, Marrien Neilson, who allegedly was chiefly responsible for the failures of the bank’s corporate trust department while overseeing what turned out to be fraudulent bond offerings managed by Christopher F. Brogdon, an Atlanta-based businessman. Brogdon…
Read MoreTwo Firms Charged With Compliance Failures in Wrap Fee Programs
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that two investment advisory firms are settling charges related to compliance failures within their wrap fee programs. SEC investigations found that St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Raymond James & Associates and Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. failed to establish policies and procedures necessary to determine the amount of commissions their clients were being charged when sub-advisers “traded away” with a broker-dealer outside the wrap fee programs. Without this information, the firms’ financial advisors were unable to provide the magnitude of these costs to clients and did not consider these commissions when determining whether the…
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