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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 聽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 聽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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
August 10, 2020

				 Greenwich, Connecticut-based brokerage firm Interactive Brokers LLC will pay fines and disgorgement totaling $23.7 million to the SEC and CFTC, as well as a $15 million penalty to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), to resolve allegations related to the firm's anti-money laundering policies.听 The SEC penalty of $11.5 million resolves charges that over the course of one year the brokerage failed to file more than 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for U.S. microcap securities trades it executed on behalf of its customers.听 The SEC order finds that defendant failed to recognize red flags concerning transactions, failed to properly investigate suspicious activity, and failed to file SARs even when suspicious transactions were flagged by compliance personnel. The $11.5 CFTC penalty, together with over $700,000 in restitution, resolves charges including that the firm, which is a registered futures commission merchant, failed to detect and report suspicious transactions, including in its handling of the accounts of Haena Park.听 ; 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Money Laundering, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 6, 2020

				 South Carolina-based consumer loan company World Acceptance Corporation has been ordered to pay $21 million to resolve allegations of violating the Foreign Corrupt 91吃瓜网 Act (FCPA).听 According to the SEC, the company鈥檚 former Mexican subsidiary, WAC de Mexico S.A. de C.V., paid more than $4 million in bribes to Mexican officials from 2010 to 2017 in order to secure the ability to make loans to government employees, then recorded the payments as legitimate business expenses. 聽				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  FCPA, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 31, 2020

				 Canadian company Bausch Health, formerly known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, will pay a $45 million penalty to resolve charges that its executives engaged in improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures in SEC filings and earnings presentations between 2014 and 2015.听 The company was alleged to have recorded false sales of products to specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services and its affiliates, which were controlled by Valeant.听 In addition, Valeant allegedly misrepresented the source and materiality of revenue it received following a 500% increase in the price of its diabetes drug Glumetza.听 Former CEO J. Michael Pearson will pay a civil penalty of $250,000; former CFO Howard B. Schiller will pay a civil penalty of $100,000; former controller Tanya Carro will pay a civil penalty of $75,000.听 The individuals also agreed to return specified portions of their incentive compensation to the company.听 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Accounting Fraud, 
													  Drug and DME Pricing, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 28, 2020

				 Houston-based VALIC Financial Advisors will pay $40 million to resolve charges that it failed to disclose payments made as a result of referrals and failed to disclose fees it received for steering clients to certain mutual funds. With respect to its mutual fund fee disclosure practices, VFA was alleged to steer individual clients to more expensive funds that VFA was able to purchase through its clearing broker鈥檚 no-transaction fee program and with respect to which VFA received both 12b-1 fees and revenue sharing from the clearing broker, while VFA was also receiving advisory fees from the individual clients, telling clients those fees would cover execution costs.听 With respect to the referral payments, VFA failed to disclose that its parent company paid an entity associated with Florida teachers鈥� unions in exchange for the entity鈥檚 exclusive endorsement of VFA as its preferred financial services partner and the entity鈥檚 agreement to not promote or endorse VFA鈥檚 competitors.听 In addition to the penalty, VFA has agreed to provide Florida K-12 teachers who participate in its advisory product in Florida鈥檚 403(b) and 457(b) retirement programs with its most favorable rates in the Florida K-12 market. 聽				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 20, 2020

				 UBS Financial Services Inc. and two of its registered representatives will pay $10 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest to resolve claims that UBS improperly redirected municipal bond offerings away from retail customers and to 鈥渇lippers,鈥� who re-sold the bonds to other broker-dealers, including UBS.听 This practice allowed UBS to circumvent the priority retail order periods set by bond issuers and improperly obtain a greater allocation of bonds for its own inventory.听 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 2, 2020

				 Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will pay $21 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt 91吃瓜网 Act.听 Alexion subsidiaries in Turkey and Russia were alleged to have made payments to foreign officials in those countries in order to secure favorable regulatory treatment for Alexion鈥檚 drug Soliris, and to increase the number of prescriptions for the drug.听 The Turkish and Russian subsidiaries, as well as Alexion subsidiaries in Brazil and Colombia, falsified their books and records with respect to improper payments, and Alexion鈥檚 internal accounting controls were not adequate to detect or prevent the improper payments and accounting.听 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCPA, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 26, 2020

				 Telegram Group Inc. and its subsidiary TON Issuer Inc. will return more than $1.2 billion to investors and pay a $18.5 million civil penalty to resolve SEC charges that it conducted an unlawful unregistered offering of its digital tokens called 鈥淕rams.鈥� The SEC alleged that the Grams were securities sold by defendants in order to raise capital to finance for their own business, which included the development of their own blockchain and a mobile messenger application.听 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Cryptocurrency, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Regulatory Violations, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 25, 2020

				 Novartis AG, a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company, along with its Greek subsidiary, Novartis Hellas S.A.C.I. (Novartis Greece), have agreed to pay $233 million to the DOJ and $112 to the SEC, for a combined penalty of $345 million, in order to resolve charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt 91吃瓜网 Act.听 A former subsidiary, Alcon Pte Ltd鈥攏ow a subsidiary of multinational eyecare company, Alcon Ltd鈥攈as agreed to pay $8.9 million to resolve similar charges.听 Between 2012 and 2016, the subsidiaries allegedly bribed employees of state-owned hospitals and clinics in Greece and Vietnam to use Novartis or Alcon-branded products while falsely recording the improper payments.听 As part of the settlement, both Novartis Greece and Alcon Pte Ltd will also enter into deferred prosecution agreements with DOJ.听 ; ; 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCPA, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 24, 2020

				 SG Americas Securities LLC has agreed to pay $1.55 million to the SEC and $1.55 million to FINRA, for a total monetary penalty of $3.1 million, to resolve charges of failing to provide complete and accurate securities trading information, also known as 鈥渂lue sheet data.鈥澛� The SEC had found that because of inadequate internal processes, SG Americas failed to catch these coding errors, causing them to submit missing or incorrect data for about $27.6 million transactions.听 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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