SEC Announces Agenda for May 18 Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the May 18 meeting of its Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will focus on the definition of an “accredited investor” and on unregistered securities offerings under Regulation D. Under the federal securities laws, certain securities offerings are exempt from SEC registration if the securities are sold to accredited investors. At the May 18 meeting, the committee will discuss the recent SEC staff report on the accredited investor definition, followed by a discussion of developments in unregistered securities offerings under Regulation D. The meeting on May 18 will begin at…
Read MoreSEC: Financial Adviser Defrauded Pro Athletes and Lied to SEC Examiners
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based financial adviser accused of taking money without permission from the accounts of several professional athletes in order to invest in movie projects and make Ponzi-like payments. According to the SEC’s complaint filed today in federal court in Manhattan, when SEC examiners uncovered the unauthorized withdrawals that Louis Martin Blazer III made from his clients’ accounts and asked him to explain the transactions, he lied and produced false deal documents that he created after the fact in a failed attempt to hide his misconduct. The SEC alleges that…
Read MoreSEC Charges Unregistered Brokers with Pocketing Investor Money
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two men with pocketing investor money they raised for limited liability companies they owned and controlled that purportedly held warrants to purchase the common stock of a technology startup company. The SEC alleges that James R. Trolice and Lee P. Vaccaro raised approximately $6 million from more than 100 investors by creating a false sense of urgency and exclusivity around the offering, claiming that only a limited amount of warrants were available and that they eventually could be exercised at a very profitable price. Trolice further lured investors by showcasing his apparent wealth…
Read MoreSEC Adopts Amendments to Implement JOBS Act and FAST Act Changes for Exchange Act Registration Requirements
Washington D.C., May 3, 2016 – The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved amendments to revise the rules related to the thresholds for registration, termination of registration, and suspension of reporting under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These amendments implement provisions of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) and the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). “With the adoption of these amendments, the Commission has completed all of the rulemaking mandated under the JOBS Act,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. To implement the JOBS Act, the Commission proposed amendments to Exchange Act…
Read MoreSEC and Law Enforcement Partners Crack Stock Promotion and Kickback Schemes
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against 10 individuals involved in schemes to trick investors into buying shares of a particular company stock. The schemes were allegedly fraught with cash bribes and other kickbacks to registered representatives and unregistered brokers who solicited investors to buy stock in ForceField Energy Inc. The SEC alleges that investors were unaware those soliciting them were being paid by a ringleader – ForceField’s then-chairman of the board Richard St. Julien – to steer them to the stock, and that some of the perpetrators attempted to evade law enforcement by going so…
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