House Committee on Financial Services Announcement

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the “SEC Regulatory Accountability Act” (H.R. 1062), a Republican bill which despite its common-sense title would greatly restrict the ability of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect millions of American investors. 

SEC charges City of Victorville, CA officials with Defrauding Municipal Bond Investors

Level Global Investors have agreed to pay more than $21.5  million in fines to the SEC to settle charges that it’s Co-Founder, Anthony Chiasson, engaged in insider trading in the securities of of Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp.  Also charged was former analyst, Spyridon “Sam” Adondakis, five investment professionals, and the hedge fund advisory firm, Diamondback Capital Management.

Social media has previously not been an issue when it came to your SEC or other public filings, but that may be changing...  

With new elements of business constantly emerging, controversy arises over what are considered material risks when it comes to financial reporting. The public is beginning to demand that companies disclose liabilities regarding cyber threats and even climate change. Normally these topics are avoided in reports, as they are highly subjective and can sway opinions easily. But this is the first proxy season that shareholders are asking for detailed disclosure on the topics. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a California based lawyer, Brian Reiss, with selling fraudulent legal opinion letters through his website. These documents were issued to transfer agents on behalf of holders, to lift restrictions on stocks to be freely traded again.

The FBI and Securties and Exchange Commission are investigating illegal trading of Heinz (HNZ) stock, red flagged by a large purchase on 2/13/13 from a dormant Swiss account just one day before Heinz was bought by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) and 3G Capital. This acquistion was a $28 billion deal, which increased Heinz’s stock value by 20% in one day.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pressing charges against 29-year-old Illinois resident Anshoo R. Sethi, who sold over $145 million in securities and collected $11 million in administrative fees for the ‘supposed’ construction of a Chicago Convention Center and Intercontinental Regional Center Trust of Chicago.  Most of the 250 investors were from China, and believed they were investing in the building of the “World’s First Zero Carbon Emission Platinum LEED certified” hotel and conference center in Spring of 2012. It is alleged that Sethi and his companies forged U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services documents to create provisional Visa’s for the investors, who believed they were investing in their path to U.S. citizenship through the EB-5 program. The program enhances the chances of foreign investors getting their green card if they in invest $500,000-$1 million in a program which creates jobs for U.S. workers.  Although Sethi has spent almost all of the administrative fee’s he collected, the SEC may have caught Sethi in the nick of time and has put a lock on the remaining $145 million. $2.5 million had been directed straight into Sethi’s personal account in Hong Kong. To read more, visit: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-20.htm. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released news of its temporary suspension of trading in the securities of America’s Energy Company – AECo. The decision was based off a lack of filing of periodic reports set forth in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Brokers, dealers and shareholders are advised to beware that the AECo may give no quotes until they have provided the commission with the reports they have requested. To read more about this topic and who to contact with questions click here, and to see a list of other companies which have also been suspended- click here.