Securities Law & Corporate Counsel Blog

HCR Wealth Advisors agreed to a cease-and-desist order, a $220,000 penalty, and a $328,912 payment to its harmed clients in order to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC complaint alleged that HCR had failed to reasonably supervise and implement its own compliance-related policies and procedures in response to fraudulent actions by one of its former investment advisors. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has spent time and energy focused on proxy voting matters in the recent months. In August 2019, the SEC provided guidance (discussed below) to assist investment advisers fulfilling their proxy voting responsibilities. It also appears to have increased its attention toward regulatory actions involving proxy voting on behalf of clients. 

In a noteworthy action resulting from a lack of action in monitoring client accounts, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") fined three Raymond James entities $15 million for failing to conduct promised suitability reviews for certain advisory accounts invested in unit investment trusts ("UITs").

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has charged two Prudential subsidiaries with a failure to monitor and report conflicts of interest that proved costly to fund shareholders.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged 23-year-old junior analyst Bill Tsai at an international investment bank with insider trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed charges against Reginald “Reggie” Middleton and two entities he owns for allegedly committing a fraudulent digital token sale scheme.

The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a risk alert outlining findings of examinations it conducted as part of its Supervision Initiative...

The outcome of a recent jury trial in Manhattan has underscored the importance of the Securities and Exchange Commission's new Regulation Best Interest and the Commission's ongoing commitment to enforcing the standard of investment suitability for retail clients.

One of the more complicated aspects of fiduciary responsibility rests with a firm's ability to adequately identify and disclose potential conflicts of interest. What may not appear to be a conflict can nevertheless violate securities laws whether it be a material misstatement or omissions in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced it had settled charges against State Street Bank and Trust for overbilling mutual funds and other investment company clients by more than $170 million over a 17-year period.