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Mar 20, 2023

SEC Obtains Court Judgment Against Unregistered Municipal Advisors

Fraudulent La. Bond Offering to Improve a City Sewer System

One of the consequences of the collapse of various portions of the financial markets in the Great Recession of 2007-2009 was the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, better known as the Dodd-Frank Act.» Read More

Mar 13, 2023

Fiddling With FICC: Proposed Rule Changes re Capital Requirements

Stress Test Protocols and Minimum Fund Requirements

The Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”), a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (“DTCC”) created in 2003, as discussed in my June 8, 2021 blog “Fixing FICC: Agency Proposes Rule Changes to Encourage More Repo Closing,” provides a critical piece of the “plumbing” of the U.S.» Read More

Feb 21, 2023

The Fourth Crow: SEC Sues Nonexistent Fund and Unidentified Agents

This is a tale of the inventiveness offered to fraudsters by the Internet, and the resulting problems presented to one of the “cops on the beat,” i.e., the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). I have previously written about some of the issues posed by the universal connectivity (and not necessarily evident transparency) of the Internet: see my March 30, 2021, Blog “Under the Cover of Darkness: Insider Trading and the Dark Web” and my Aug.» Read More

Feb 13, 2023

Defrauding D Orders: SEC Cracks Down on Manipulative Day Trader

On Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instituted Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings (the “Proceedings”) against Conrad Neil Normann (“Normann”), 57, of Scottsville, New York. Normann was associated as a day trader with a proprietary trading firm registered with the SEC as a Broker/Dealer.» Read More

Feb 06, 2023

Even-handed Thievery: SEC Sanctions Unregistered Investment Adviser for Fraudulent: I) Investment Advice, AND II) Filings for PPP Loans

Gregory Blotnick (“Blotnick”), age 35, is a resident of Palm Beach, Florida. He was the founder, sole owner, managing partner, and only employee of Brattle Street Capital, LLC, a New York limited liability company (“BSC”) headquartered in New York, NY. BSC is the unregistered investment adviser to a private investment fund, BSC Opportunistic Equity, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Fund”), founded by Blotnick in June 2019, and headquartered in New York, NY.» Read More

Jan 30, 2023

Outside Tips: SEC Sues Trio for Trading on Equifax Breach

Until 1864 no generally available system existed to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers; instead, lenders, whether dealing with Commodore Vanderbilt or the proverbial “John Smith,” had to rely on informal information obtained from neighbors, community, or otherwise about a putative borrower’s reputation and perceived financial capacity. As» Read More

Jan 23, 2023

Hack Attack: SEC Charges 18 Individuals and Entities with Microcap “Pump and Dump”

Traditional “Pump and Dump” schemes involve stimulating investor interest in low-cost (typically less than $1 per share) stock using press releases, cold calls, and social media advertising to spread false or misleading information about the issuing company. As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) warns on its “Investor.gov» Read More

Jan 17, 2023

“Picking the Winner”: SEC Sanctions Investment Adviser and an Associate for “Rigging” the Game

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instituted two related Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings: one against IFP Advisors, LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“IFP”) headquartered in Tampa and registered with the SEC as an Investment Adviser since 2008, which as of May 2022 had more than $10 billion under management; and the other against Richard Keith Robertson (“Robertson”), age 56, of Del Mar, California, who was from October 2010 to December 2018 an investment adviser representative (“IAR”) associated with IFP.» Read More