Securities Fraud

SEC Enforcement Spotlight – Bob Marley-Linked Jammin’ Java Charged with Massive Pump and Dump Fraud Scheme

By Tim McCormack The Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges yesterday against nine people in connection with a classic pump and dump market manipulation scheme involving the stock of Jammin’ Java, also known as Marley Coffee.   See SEC Press Release.  According to the SEC’s complaint, Jammin Java’s former CEO Shane Whittle orchestrated the fraud, which culminated in 2011 with the collapse...

In Their Own Words -- Ceresney

--  “The Division’s hard work, tremendous energy, and efficiency uncovered significant misconduct during the past fiscal year, and helped bring a significant number of high-impact, first-of-their-kind actions.”

Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, commenting on the SEC’s 2015 Enforcement Results.

In Their Own Words — Lamprey

—  “We are gratified to see the interests of participants in the CDS market – including public pension funds investing on behalf of retirees – vindicated, and competition in this important market fostered.”  

Wayne Lamprey, partner at Constantine Cannon, who, along with fellow partner Anne Hayes Hartman, assisted with the initial evaluation and filing of the claim in the credit-default swaps market case...

$1.86 Billion Dollar Credit Default Swaps Settlement: One of the Largest Since the Financial Crisis

Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce a $1.86 billion settlement of In Re:  Credit Default Swaps Antitrust Litigation, a major class action lawsuit. The case alleged that 11 of the world’s largest banks conspired to restrain competition in the credit default (CDS) market.  See yesterday's Wall Street Journal report.  Constantine Cannon LLP served as one of the counsel for Los Angeles County Employees...

Does Stock Crash Reveal Markets Are Rigged Against Small Investors?

By Tim McCormack and Wayne Lamprey The precipitous drop in the stock market on Monday, August 24, was particularly hard on small investors.  The Washington Post reports:

“Millions of these Main Street investors were locked out during the crucial hour when the worst hit, just as markets opened Monday. Popular trading platforms run by TD Ameritrade, Scottrade and others ran slow or not at all as panic grabbed...

SEC Enforcement Spotlight – ITG Pays Over $20 Million To Settle Charges Related To Its “Dark Pool”

Brokerage company ITG, Inc. and its affiliate AlterNet Securities will pay $20.3 million to settle charges that they operated a secret trading desk and misused the confidential trading information of dark pool subscribers.  See SEC Press Release. In 1987, ITG created POSIT, an alternative trading system or “dark pool,” for subscribers such as asset managers, broker-dealers, and institutional investors to...

SEC Enforcement Spotlight – 32 charged in international scheme to trade on hacked news releases

On August 11^th, the SEC announced the filing of fraud charges against 32 defendants for taking part in an international scheme to profit from stolen non-public corporate earnings announcements.  See SEC Press Release The SEC’s complaint alleges that over a five-year period, two Ukrainian men, Ivan Turchynov and Oleksandr Ieremenko, used advanced techniques to hack into two or more newswire services and steal...

SEC Announces First Award to Whistleblower in Retaliation Case

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The SEC awarded $600,000 to a whistleblower who suffered "unique hardships, including retaliation" as a result of blowing the whistle on misconduct at hedge fund advisory firm Paradigm Capital Management.  The award is the maximum the SEC pays to whistleblowers – 30 percent of the amount the SEC recovers – and represents the first time the SEC has made an award to a...

SEC Awards Compliance Officer Whistleblower Over A Million Dollars

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The SEC announced an award of more than a million dollars to a compliance officer who had a reasonable basis to believe that disclosure to the SEC was necessary to prevent imminent misconduct from causing substantial financial harm to the company or investors. This is the second award the SEC has made to an employee with internal audit or compliance responsibilities, after the...