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September 29, 2023

North Carolina-based global specialty chemical manufacturing company Albemarle Corporation has agreed to pay over $218 million in penalties and forfeiture to the DOJ, $103.6 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest to the SEC, and enter into a three-year non-prosecution agreement to settle charges of violating the anti-bribery, recordkeeping, and internal accounting controls provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  Albemarle admitted to using third-party intermediaries to pay bribes from about 2009 to 2017 in order to obtain and retain business with state-owned oil refineries in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India.  As a result, the company obtained profits of about $98.5 million.  DOJ; SEC

September 29, 2023

Registered investment adviser D. E. Shaw & Co. L.P. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges of violating the whistleblower protection rule of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  According to the SEC, between 2011 and 2019, the company required new employees to sign agreements prohibiting them from disclosing information to anyone outside the company without company authorization, a court order, or as required by law.  Between 2011 and 2023, the company also required about 400 departing employees to sign releases stating they had not filed complaints with any federal agency before they were able to receive benefits.  SEC

September 29, 2023

Consumer products company Newell Brands Inc. and its CEO, Michael Polk, have agreed to pay $12.5 million and $110,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to resolve charges of misleading investors about its core sales growth.  The company allegedly engaged in accounting practices that were inconsistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which made it appear as if it had hit its sales targets when in fact it had not.  SEC

September 29, 2023

Interactive Brokers Corp., an introducing broker, and Interactive Brokers LLC, a futures commission merchant, has been ordered to pay $20 million to the CFTC and $35 million to the SEC to resolve charges of failing to maintain and preserve records.  The records included communications through unapproved channels, such as text and WhatsApp, which employees at all levels used and which the company failed to maintain and preserve.  The SEC also resolved charges against other firms for similar misconduct, including Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. ($15 million); William Blair & Company LLC and William Blair Investment Management LLC ($10 million); Nuveen Securities LLC ($8.5 million); Fifth Third Securities Inc. ($8 million); and Perella Weinberg Partners LP, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities LLC, and Perella Weinberg Partners Capital Management LP ($2.5 million).  CFTC; SEC

September 28, 2023

Energy provider Exelon Corporation and its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Company (ComED) have agreed to pay $46.2 million to settle charges of attempting to influence legislation through illegal bribes to then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan.  Between 2011 and 2019, in anticipation of benefits worth more than $150 million, ComEd provided $1.3 million in monetary payments, as well as employment and subcontracts, to Madigan’s associates.  Former ComED CEO Anne Pramaggiore—who allegedly directed and participated in the scheme, lied to investors and auditors, and filed false certifications—continues to face charges of violating federal securities laws.  SEC

September 26, 2023

Registered investment advisor AssetMark Inc. has agreed to pay more than $18 million to settle charges of failing to fully disclose a conflict of interest from its affiliate’s cash sweep program.  Specifically, AssetMark failed to disclose that it helped set the fee that its affiliate received for operating the program, and the fee directly reduced the amount of interest paid to clients.  SEC

September 26, 2023

Hyzon Motors, which builds hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle SEC charges of misleading investors about its business relationships and sales numbers.  Its former CEO, Craig Knight, has agreed to pay about $250,000, and former managing director of its European subsidiary, Max C.B. Holthausen, has agreed to pay over $122,500, to settle charges against them.  Hydron, Knight, and Holthausen allegedly misrepresented that they had already sold a number of vehicles and that more sales were imminent, and made other misstatements concerning its certain customer and supplier relationships, the delivery of its first vehicle, and the reporting of its sales numbers.  SEC

September 25, 2023

Investment adviser DWS Investment Management Americas Inc. (DIMA), a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle two separate enforcement actions.  In the first action, DIMA was found to have failed to develop and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulations.  In the second action, DIMA was found to have made materially misleading statements about how it managed its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) products while marketing itself as a leader in the field.  SEC

September 22, 2023

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC has agreed to pay $6 million to resolve charges of failing to provide accurate securities trading information to the SEC.  The firm admitted to making 26 of 43 total types of errors, through 22,000 deficient blue sheet submissions, ultimately causing inaccurate or missing trade data for at least 163 million transactions.  SEC

September 22, 2023

American Infrastructure Funds LLC (AIM) has agreed to pay $1.6 million in civil penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest to settle charges of violating the antifraud and compliance provisions of the Advisers Act while acting as an investment advisor to private funds.  According to the SEC, AIM failed to disclose multiple conflicts of interest to its clients, including instances where it failed to consider whether a fee acceleration or a loan was in its clients’ best interests.  It also violated its fiduciary duties by transferring funds from one fund nearing the end of its term to a new fund without obtaining investor consent or providing investors with an exit, even though doing so would lock up investor funds for another decade.  SEC
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