On Jul. 1, SEC charged advisor with defrauding retail customers. Fieldstone Financial Management Group and principal Kristofor Behn, defrauded retail clients by failing to disclose conflicts of interest on their recommendations. Charges 2014-2016, approximately 40 retail clients of Behn and Fieldstone invested over $7mn in Aequitas securities, who were subject of a previous enforcement action.…
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FINRA Fine Axa re 401k Fraud
On May 2, FINRA fined Axa for lying to 401k sponsors, members. AXA Advisors, LLC, misrepresentations to 401(k) plan sponsors and participants. Firm sells and services, group annuity contracts for employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans that an affiliated life insurance company issues and administers. Alleged Violations AXA advised employers to help determine what funds should be…
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SEC Elon Musk Twitter Fraud
On Apr. 26, 2019, Elon Musk agreed with SEC not to tweet on Tesla's revenue, financial condition, potential merger/acquisition, production, sales numbers. Or new, proposed business line, projection, forecast without lawyer approval. To resolve SEC contempt motion on Feb. 25, 2019, for violating pre-approval requirements of Oct. 16, 2018 final judgement by tweeting on Feb.…
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SEC Silicon Valley Startup Fraud
On Apr. 2, SEC fined Silicon Valley start-up CEO $17mn for fraud. Daniel Mattes CEO of Jumio, private mobile payments company charged re fraud. Charges Overstated 2014-14 revenue and sold his shares in the private, secondary market. Complaint alleges he made $14mn selling shares and hiding sales from the board. Falsely told an investor that…
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CFTC Choi Forex Ponzi CTA Fraud
On Mar. 18, 2019, CFTC entered order of final judgment against Choi, Apuro, JCI. Pay $1.12mn restitution to defrauded customers, $1.12mn civil monetary penalty. Had also imposed permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants. CFTC issued several customer protection fraud advisories on fraud warning signs, including Forex fraud advisory, a sharp rise in Forex…
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NYSE Post Trade Review
On Mar. 11, NYSE memo on post-trade review for possible fraud. Under CEA Rule 15c3-5 on market access, members must review trades for potentially manipulative, disruptive, and/or other improper conduct on them. Follows guidance by exchange, new guide is read in conjunction. Risk Management Guide On post-trade reviews, use third-party risk management technology, software. Also…
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