Emory University accounting professor Shivaram Rajgopal points an accusatory finger at Securities and Exchange Commission employees and proclaims a pattern of selling stocks of companies subject to enforcement actions. His study finds “significant abnormal returns of (i) about 4% per year for all securities in general; and (ii) about 8.5% in U.S. common stocks in … Read more »
Category: SEC News
Private Fund Theft Through Diligence Payments
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Lawrence E. Penn III and his firm Camelot Acquisitions Secondary Opportunities Management, a private equity manager, with stealing $9 million from investors in their private equity fund. He is accused of siphoning off $9.3 million through sham due diligence payments. The SEC claims that Penn used a shell company … Read more »
NEAT and MIDAS: The SEC’s New Tools
“This is not your father’s SEC – or your mother’s or even your older brother or sister’s.” Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White is proud of two new technology tools the Commission is rolling out. She spoke about the new tools at the 41st Annual Securities Regulation Institute. The first is NEAT, the … Read more »
SEC’s First Deferred Prosecution Agreement With an Individual
The Securities and Exchange Administration announced that it entered into its first deferred prosecution agreement with an individual. What’s remarkable is that this is first time the SEC has done so. Back in early 2010, the SEC announced that it had launched a new enforcement cooperation initiative. The SEC did a big (for the SEC) … Read more »
SEC Brings its First Charges Against a Municipal Issuer
Nine Washington cities and counties in the Wenatchee Valley region thought it would be a good idea to join forces to build a regional events center and ice hockey arena. They formed the Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center Public Facilities District and authorized the District to issue bonds to fund the construction of the Town … Read more »
When the Numbers Don’t Add Up
Sometimes when you look at an investment opportunity, you run through the math and see that things don’t add up. That means it might be a fraud. Take a look at the offering of Bio Profit Series V, LLC detailed in an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assuming the SEC’s complaint is … Read more »
Yet Another Rule to Discourage Companies From Going Public
There has always been a tension between regulating the capital markets to protect the public and making capital formation more efficient. While I was focusing on Tuesday’s meeting SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies discussing changes to private placements, the SEC passed another rule that smacks public companies. Now public companies need to … Read more »
Ignoring Changes to Regulation D
While many embraced lifting the ban on general solicitation and advertising, most despised the additional mess that the SEC added in. Fortunately, you can probably ignore much of that mess. At least for a few months. We knew that the SEC was going to require that firms selling public private-placements were going to have to … Read more »
SEC Compliance Outreach Program
In May attended the SEC Compliance Outreach program hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Boston office. That was supposed to be the first in a new series from the SEC. The SEC just announced a few other program dates and locations. I highly recommend attending. From the SEC: The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections … Read more »
What’s Next For Private Funds Now that the SEC has Lifted the Ban on General Solicitation
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule that will allow private funds to advertise. (Perhaps “private fund” is not the right label anymore.) Of course it’s not as simple as merely removing the word “not” and allowing public advertising of private placements. The new rule creates a new option. It creates … Read more »