Securities Industry Commentator by Bill Singer Esq WEEK IN REVIEW

October 3, 2020


Love In the Time of Covid Expires for SEC (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog)

White Plains Financial Adviser Arrested For Embezzlement (DOJ Release)

Founders And Executives Of Off-Shore Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange Charged With Violation Of The Bank Secrecy Act / Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and Gregory Dwyer Flouted U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Rules (DOJ Release)

CFTC Charges BitMEX Owners with Illegally Operating a Cryptocurrency Derivatives Trading Platform and Anti-Money Laundering Violations (CFTC Release)

Principal Of Cryptocurrency Escrow Company Pleads Guilty To Multimillion-Dollar Fraudulent Scheme (DOJ Release)

Justice Department Issues Favorable Business Review Letter To ISDA For Proposed Amendments To Address Interest Rate Benchmarks (DOJ Release)

FINRA Fines and Suspends Rep Over Transfers of 495 Files Pending His Resignation
In the Matter of Kevin Shivan-Yee Liu, Respondent (FINRA AWC)


Convicted Burglar Exposed - Texas and Washington Stop Criminal Promoting Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Software Scam (TSSB Release)

Four Alleged Stock Defrauders from Georgia, New York and Texas Indicted for "Pump and Dump" Scheme Involving Three Public Companies (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges Four Individuals in a Fraudulent Manipulation and Kickback Scheme (SEC Release)

Northampton County Man Charged with Defrauding Family and Friends Out of Over $1 Million by Selling Them Worthless Stock / The defendant allegedly swindled more than 50 victims, including former fraternity brothers (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges Pennsylvania Man with Decade-Long Fraud (SEC Release)

SEC Files Charges in Microcap Stock Schemes (SEC Release)

Acton Investment Advisor Pleads Guilty to Stealing More than $3.7 Million of Clients' Funds (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges Purported Hedge Fund Manager with Fraud (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Orchestrator of Cryptocurrency Offering Fraud (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Unregistered Broker with Selling Securities in Ponzi Scheme (SEC Release)

Commission Charges South Carolina Resident in Pump-And-Dump Scheme (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Louisiana Man with Defrauding Investors in Foreign Currency Trading Scheme (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Texas-Based Company and Founders with Defrauding Dozens of Investors (SEC Release)

Morgan Stanley Agrees to Pay $5 Million for Reg SHO Violations in Prime Brokerage Swaps Business (SEC Release)

SEC Charges HP Inc. With Disclosure Violations and Control Failures (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Hospitality Company for Failing to Disclose Executive Perks (SEC Release)

SEC Awards Almost $30 Million to Two Insider Whistleblowers (SEC Release)

SEC Whistleblower Program Ends Record-Setting Fiscal Year With Four Additional Awards (SEC Release)


JPMorgan Chase & Co. Agrees To Pay $920 Million in Connection with Schemes to Defraud Precious Metals and U.S. Treasuries Markets (DOJ Release)

J.P. Morgan Securities Admits to Manipulative Trading in U.S. Treasuries (SEC Release)

CFTC Orders JPMorgan to Pay Record $920 Million for Spoofing and Manipulation (CFTC Release)

Joint Statement of Concurrence of Commissioners Dawn D. Stump and Rostin Behnam Regarding JPMorgan Chase & Co., et al. (CFTC Statement)

Supporting Statement of Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz Regarding Historic Penalty against JPMorgan and Opposing "Bad Actor" Waiver (CFTC Statement)

Former Wall Street Trader Sentenced To More Than 5 Years In Prison For Running A Ponzi Scheme (DOJ Release)

Former Registered Broker Pleads Guilty to Participating in a Multi-Million Dollar Securities Fraud Scheme / Defendant Engaged in Unauthorized Trading in Customers' Account and Generated Over $2 Million in Commissions and Fees for Brokerage Firm (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges Former Real Estate Executive With Misappropriating $26 Million in Ponzi Scheme (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Ratings Agency With Internal Controls Failures in Connection With Ratings of CMBS and CLO Combo Notes (SEC Release)

South Florida Lawyer Charged with Fraud Related to 1 Global Capital Investment Scheme (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges South Florida Lawyer with Securities Fraud (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Unregistered Brokers in Penny Stock Scheme Targeting Seniors (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Nebraska-Based Investment Adviser Representative for Conducting Fraudulent "Cherry-Picking" Scheme (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Swedish National with Global Scheme Defrauding Retail Investors, Including Deaf Community Members (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Manitex International and Three Former Senior Executives With Accounting Fraud (SEC Release)

CFTC Orders New Jersey Firm to Pay $300,000 for Supervision Violations (CFTC Release)

CFTC Awards Whistleblower $250,000 (CFTC Release)


List Brokerage Firm Pleads Guilty To Facilitating Elder Fraud Schemes / Corporate Guilty Plea Follows Guilty Plea and Indictment of Executives (DOJ Release)

Owner of Bitcoin Exchange Convicted of Racketeering Conspiracy for Laundering Millions of Dollars in International Cyber Fraud Scheme (DOJ Release)

SEC Charges Amazon Finance Manager and Family With Insider Trading (SEC Release)

SEC Increases Whistleblower Award Above CRS Recommendation
SEC Order Determining Whistleblower Award Claim

Fiat Chrysler Agrees to Pay $9.5 Million Penalty for Disclosure Violations (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Recidivist Securities Law Violator with Fraud Against Advisory Clients (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Companies, Former Executives as Part of Risk-Based Initiative / Interface and Two Former Executives Charged With Accounting and Disclosure Violations; Fulton Financial Corporation Charged With Disclosure Violations (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Georgia Investment Adviser Firm and Its Owner and Founder

Regulation ATS for ATSs that Trade U.S. Government Securities, NMS Stock, and Other Securities; Regulation SCI for ATSs that Trade U.S. Treasury Securities and Agency Securities; and Electronic Corporate Bond and Municipal Securities Markets (SEC Rule Proposal)

CFTC Orders New York Firm and its Trader to Pay $585,000 for Spoofing (CFTC Release)

CFTC Charges Georgia Man with Fraudulent Scheme to Profit from COVID-19 (CFTC Release)

CFTC Orders Three Citibank Affiliates to Pay $4.5 Million for Supervision Failures That Led to Deletion of Subpoenaed Audio Recordings (CFTC Release)

CFTC Charges Foreign Trading Platform with Offering Illegal Leveraged Transactions in Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin (CFTC Release)

FINRA Imposes Fine and Suspension for Rep's Use of Customers' Nonpublic Personal Information
In the Matter of Michael R. Jeppson, Respondent (FINRA AWC)

FINRA Imposes Fine and Suspension for Rep's Use of NSF Checks
In the Matter of Joshua K. Staudinger, Respondent (FINRA AWC)


Inside the JPMorgan Trading Desk the U.S. Called a Crime Ring / The U.S. says the precious metals desk at JPMorgan was a racketeering operation. Now the bank is poised to pay a record penalty for spoofing. Here's a look behind eight years of alleged conspiracy (Bloomberg by Tom Schoenberg)

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change to Amend the Codes of Arbitration Procedure Relating to Requests to Expunge Customer Dispute Information, Including Creating a Special Arbitrator Roster to Decide Certain Expungement Requests (SEC Filing)

Financial Planner Sentenced To Federal Prison For Investment Fraud And Failure To File Tax Returns (DOJ Release)

Mount Laurel, NJ Man Arrested and Charged With Almost 30 Counts of Fraud in Connection with Two Business Schemes (DOJ Release)

Georgia Man Sentenced to Prison for Running Ponzi Scheme (DOJ Release)

Head Of Investment Management Firm Sentenced To 85 Months In Prison In Connection With $18 Million Pre-IPO Securities Fraud Scheme (DOJ Release)

In the Matter of Mark Feathers (SEC ALJ Initial Decision)

SEC Charges Film Producer, Rapper, and Others for Participation in Two Fraudulent ICOs (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Top Executive of California Microcap Company for Misleading Claims Concerning COVID-19 Test and Financial Statements (SEC Release)

SEC Charges Former Mining Executive with Making False Statements (SEC Release)

SEC Issues Two Whistleblower Awards for High-Quality Information Regarding Overseas Conduct (SEC Release)

June Bug vs. Hurricane:* Whistleblowers Fight Tremendous Odds and Deserve Better (SEC Statement by Commissioner Allison Herren Lee)