Sec Charges Financial News

Today, Los Angeles-based media conglomerate Impact Theory came under scrutiny after being accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of executing an unregistered sale of crypto asset securities in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a media and entertainment company with conducting unregistered securities sales when it sold nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to investors between October and December 2021. 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged London-based audit firm, Crowe U.K. LLP, its CEO, Nigel Bostock, and senior auditor, Matthew Stallabrass, concerning their deficient audit of the music streaming company, Akazoo Limited. The parties involved have agreed to settle the SEC's charges.

John A. DeSalvo, a former lieutenant at the New Jersey Department of Corrections, has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for orchestrating a crypto scam that specifically targeted police officers and first responders.

In the first case involving the SEC's amended marketing rule, Tian has agreed to pay over $1 million to settle the charges, without admitting or denying the findings.According to the SEC, between August 2021 and October 2022, Titan, which offers multiple complex strategies to retail investors through its mobile trading app, made misleading statements on its website regarding hypothetical performance, including by advertising “annualised” performance results as high as 2,700% for its crypto strategy.The regulator says the adverts were misleading because they failed to include material information, for example, that the hypothetical performance projections assumed that the strategy’s performance in its first three weeks would continue for an entire year.The order also found that Titan made conflicting disclosures to clients about how it custodied crypto assets.Osman Nawaz, chief of enforcement’s complex financial instruments unit, SEC, says: "The Commission amended the marketing rule to allow for the use of hypothetical performance metrics but only if advisers comply with requirements reasonably designed to prevent fraud."Titan’s advertisements and disclosures painted a misleading picture of certain of its strategies for investors.

By Chris Prentice

Fintech investment adviser Titan Global Capital Management has agreed to a cease-and-desist order by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with censure and penalties after the agency pressed charges against it relating to advertising and compliance failures.

The SEC has filed charges against a registered representative for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from a client and using the proceeds to finance the financial advisor’s personal spending.

Richard Heart with raising more than $1 billion in three unregistered crypto asset offerings and defrauding investors out of $12.1 million to buy luxuries including a 555-carat black diamond. In a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court, the SEC said Heart, also known as Richard Schueler, touted his Hex token, PulseX asset trading platform and PulseChain asset network on YouTube and other websites as pathways to «grandiose wealth.» The SEC said Heart often made superficial «tongue-in-cheek» disclaimers that his offerings were not securities but knew otherwise, as he touted that Hex was capable of 38% returns and «built to be the highest appreciating asset that has ever existed in the history of man.» The SEC accused Heart of spending investor funds on McLaren and Ferrari sports cars, four Rolex watches and «The Enigma,» which cost 3.16 million British pounds (then $4.28 million) at auction and was purportedly the world's largest black diamond.

Faith is a powerful thing but when people are persuaded to believe in too-good-to-be-true investments, it can also be costly.

Quantstamp, a blockchain security firm, has been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to return $28 million raised in a 2017 unregistered initial coin offering (ICO). 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company that plans to merge with the parent company of Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, settled charges that it made «material misrepresentations» to investors.

The SEC announced Thursday it has charged a previously registered broker with stealing approximately $3 million from clients, some of whom were elderly or disabled.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says a former advisor to the families of U.S. Army heroes defrauded them by making unauthorized trades and inappropriate investment recommendations.

Robinhood Financial agreed Thursday to pay $65 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the investment platform misled customers and provided overpriced trades.

Binance has carried out a round of layoffs since regulators last week charged it with violating securities laws and sought to freeze its assets, said two people with knowledge of the dismissals and employees' social media posts. One of the sources said around 50 people were laid off. Reuters was unable to independently verify the number or seniority of employees affected. A Binance.US spokesperson did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment. Employees in Binance.US' legal, compliance and risk departments were among those dismissed, the people told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the matter is private.

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has issued a Summary Cease and Desist Order against leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Inc. for allegedly offering unregistered securities tied to its cryptocurrency staking services. The Bureau has further levied a hefty penalty of $5 million against Coinbase.

The allegations against Binance and Coinbase by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have substantial ramifications for the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, and they are far from positive. DeFi has developed as a promising area within the crypto industry, aiming to disrupt established financial systems and deliver financial services in a decentralized manner.

Credit ratings agency Moody's has downgraded its rating of Coinbase from “stable” to “negative” following the SEC’s legal action against the crypto exchange for allegedly operating as an unregistered securities broker.

Binance.US has decided to remove over 100 trading pairs by June 8, days after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and its CEO.

The SEC lawsuit against Binance on June 5, accusing the crypto exchange of violating various securities laws, had a direct impact on the crypto market as well as the balance sheet of the crypto exchange.