Private Fund Administrator Charged With Gatekeeper Failures
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a firm providing administrative services to private funds has agreed to pay more than $350,000 to settle charges that it failed to heed red flags and correct faulty accounting by two clients. SEC investigations found that Apex Fund Services missed or ignored clear indications of fraud while contracted to keep records and prepare financial statements and investor account statements for funds managed by ClearPath Wealth Management and EquityStar Capital Management. Both clients have since been charged with fraud in SEC enforcement actions. “Fund administrators are responsible for ensuring that fund…
Read MoreHedge Fund Managers and Former Government Official Charged in $32 Million Insider Trading Scheme
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Read MoreSEC: Muni Advisors Acted Deceptively With California School Districts
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that two California-based municipal advisory firms and their executives have agreed to settle charges that they used deceptive practices when soliciting the business of five California school districts. An SEC investigation found that while School Business Consulting Inc. was advising the school districts about their hiring process for financial professionals, it was simultaneously retained by Keygent LLC, which was seeking the municipal advisory business of the same school districts. Without permission, School Business Consulting shared confidential information with Keygent, including questions to be asked in Keygent’s interviews with the school districts and…
Read MoreSEC to Permit Voluntary Filing Using Inline XBRL
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it will allow companies to voluntarily file structured financial statement data in a format known as Inline XBRL. This initiative represents another step in the SEC’s continuing efforts to modernize and enhance its requirements to facilitate transparency of, and access to, companies’ disclosures. The Commission’s rules require operating companies to structure financial statement data in their filings, including annual and quarterly reports, using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which is a machine-readable format. Companies currently are required to provide this XBRL structured data as an exhibit to these filings. Since these…
Read MoreInvestment Fraud Victims Include Online Daters
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze obtained against a Connecticut man accused of misleading people into investing in his company and then taking their money for his personal use. His victims include several women he met through an online dating website. The SEC alleges that Thomas J. Connerton told investors that his company Safety Technologies LLC was developing a material to make surgical gloves better resistant to cuts or punctures. He claimed that several major glove manufacturers wanted the technology and Safety Technologies was on the brink of imminent deals that would…
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