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SEC Enforcement Actions

The (SEC) is the United States agency with primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities laws. Whistleblowers with knowledge of violations of the federal securities laws can submit a claim to the SEC under the SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, and may be eligible to receive  monetary rewards and protection against retaliation by employers.

Below are summaries of recent SEC settlements or successful prosecutions. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give  rise to an SEC enforcement action and claim under the SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

June 30, 2021

Investment advisor Securities America, Inc. will pay a $1.75 million civil penalty to resolve charges that it failed to implement policies and procedures that were reasonably designed to protect client assets from misappropriation.  While affiliated entities to whom SAA had delegated responsibility for surveillance of advisory accounts had received automated alerts about potentially suspicious withdrawals from client accounts, those alerts were ignored and approximately $8 million was misappropriated from SAA advisory accounts. 

June 29, 2021

Neovest Inc., a JPMorgan Chase & Co. subsidiary that provides an order and execution management system (OEMS) that facilitates electronic trading, will pay $2.75 million for its failure to register as a broker-dealer. Neovest's OEMS allows customers to route orders for stocks and options to more than 360 customer-selected destination brokers who entered into agreements with Neovest for execution. In exchange for its OEMS services, Neovest received transaction-based compensation, which were sent to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and then transferred to Neovest.

June 25, 2021

UK-based global engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, a subsidiary of John Wood Group plc, has agreed to pay more than $40.7 million in criminal fines, disgorgement, and interest, and enter into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement to settle foreign bribery charges involving a $190 million contract from state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) to design a gas-to-chemicals complex in Brazil.  Through employees located in New York and Texas, Amec Foster Wheeler allegedly conspired with others to pay bribes to win the contract, earning at least $12.9 million in profit as a result. The company also reached settlements with the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office and Brazilian authorities, and will receive credits for payments made to those entities. ; ;

June 24, 2021

A whistleblower whose information and ongoing assistance led to multiple SEC enforcement actions has been awarded more than $1 million.  According to the agency, the whistleblower played a critical role in the enforcement actions by prompting the investigation and saving the agency significant time and resources. 

June 24, 2021

Gateway One Lending & Finance, LLC, which originates, securitizes, and services auto loans, agreed to pay $6.5 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties to resolve charges that it understated the historic losses of its auto loans and overstated the projected future performance for six auto loan-backed securitizations. 

June 22, 2021

Loci Inc., whose InnVenn platform provides intellectual property search services for inventors and others users, will pay $7.6 million to resolve SEC charges arising from its unregistered initial coin offering of "LOCIcoins."  In the course of the ICO, Loci and its CEO John Wise allegedly misrepresented the company’s revenues, number of employees, and InnVenn’s user base.

June 21, 2021

The SEC has issued awards totaling nearly $5.3 million to whistleblowers whose information caused the SEC to launch investigations that ultimately resulted in successful enforcement actions.  In the first award, a whistleblower received nearly $4 million for extraordinary assistance, including providing documents, identifying witnesses, and participating in hours of interviews.  In the second award, three whistleblowers received about $1.3 million for providing ongoing assistance that conserved agency time and resources. 

June 15, 2021

Real estate settlement services company First American Financial Corporation will pay a penalty of $487,616 to resolve allegations that the publicly-traded company released incomplete information about a cybersecurity vulnerability in its document sharing platform that exposed over 800 million document images dating back to 2003, including images containing sensitive personal data such as social security numbers and financial information. The SEC charged that First American had deficient disclosure controls that left senior management unaware of the company's earlier discovery of the vulnerability and its attempts to remediate it. 

June 14, 2021

The SEC has awarded approximately $3 million to two whistleblowers whose separate tips led to a successful enforcement action.  According to the press release, the first whistleblower’s early tip helped agency staff develop its case and focus its resources, while the second whistleblower helped uncover misappropriated funds and fraudulent transfers. 

June 2, 2021

The SEC awarded $23 million to two individuals who voluntarily provided information as whistleblowers that led to recoveries by the SEC and another federal agency in related enforcement actions. Information provided by the first whistleblower, who received approximately $13 million, initiated the investigations.  The second whistleblower, who waited several years before coming forward, provided additional information that substantially contributed, and was awarded approximately $10 million.  Both provided ongoing assistance to the Commission and the other agency, providing documents, participating in interviews, and identifying key individuals and systems involved in the investigations. 
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