Archive

May 15, 2014

The SEC charged Behrooz Sarafraz, a California-based securities salesman for selling millions of dollars in oil-and-gas investments without being registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer or associated with a registered broker-dealer.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Sarafraz acted as the primary salesman on behalf of TVC Opus I Drilling Program and Tri-Valley Corp. which together from February 2002 to April 2010 raised more than $140M million for their oil-and-gas drilling venture.  While Sarafraz was raising money for these entities, he was not associated with any broker-dealer registered with the SEC and thus denied denied investors the protections of regulatory oversight and firm supervision.  He agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying disgorgement of his commissions, prejudgment interest, and a penalty for a total of more than $22M.  SEC

May 15, 2014

The SEC charged New York-based Rafferty Capital Markets with illegally facilitating trades for another firm that wasn’t registered as a broker-dealer as required under the federal securities laws.  Rafferty agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by disgorging all the profits it received in the arrangement plus interest and a penalty for a total of nearly $850,000.  SEC

May 1, 2014

The New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges along with Archipelago Securities agreed to pay a $4.5M penalty agreed to settle charges that they failed to comply with the responsibilities of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to conduct their business operations in accordance with SEC-approved exchange rules and the federal securities laws.  SEC

April 15, 2014

The SEC charged San Diego-based investment advisory firm Total Wealth Management and its owner and CEO Jacob Cooper with misleading investors and breaching their fiduciary duties to clients by entering into undisclosed revenue sharing agreements through which they paid themselves kickbacks or so-called “revenue sharing fees.”  They failed to disclose to clients the conflicts of interest created by these agreements as they recommended the underlying investments to clients and investors in the Altus family of funds.  SEC

April 3, 2014

The SEC charged the St. Petersburg, Florida-based financial services firm, Transamerica Financial Advisors, with improperly calculating advisory fees and overcharging clients. SEC

March 12, 2014

The SEC charged global investment bank and brokerage firm Jefferies LLC with failing to supervise employees on its mortgage-backed securities desk who were lying to customers about pricing during the financial crisis.  Jefferies agreed to pay $25M to settle the SEC’s charges as well as a parallel action by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.  SEC

February 21, 2014

The SEC charged Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group AG for violating the federal securities laws by providing cross-border brokerage and investment advisory services to U.S. clients without first registering with the SEC.  Credit Suisse agreed to pay $196M and admit wrongdoing to settle the SEC’s charges.  SEC

January 29, 2014

The SEC charged St. Louis-based Scottrade with failing to provide the agency with complete and accurate information about trades done by the firm and its customers, which is commonly called “blue sheet” data.  The company agreed to settle the charges by paying a $2.5M penalty and admitting it violated the recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws.  SEC

January 27, 2014

The SEC sanctioned California-based investment adviser Western Asset Management Company, a subsidiary of Legg Mason,  for concealing investor losses that resulted from a coding error and engaging in cross trading that favored some clients over others.  The company agreed to pay more than $21M to settle the SEC’s charges as well as a related matter by the DOJ. SEC

January 24, 2014

The SEC charged public accounting firm KPMG with violating rules that require auditors to remain independent from the public companies they’re auditing to ensure they maintain their objectivity and impartiality.   An SEC investigation found that KPMG broke auditor independence rules by providing prohibited non-audit services such as bookkeeping and expert services to affiliates of companies whose books they were auditing.  Some KPMG personnel also owned stock in companies or affiliates of companies that were KPMG audit clients.  KPMG agreed to pay $8.2M to settle the SEC’s charges.  SEC