SEC says John Clayton, owner of Standard Registrar and Transfer Co, secretly acquired and dumped millions of shares of microcap stocks.

On December 11, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Utah charging five individuals and three entities for their roles in a fraudulent scheme… Read More

Court of Appeals partially Rules in Favor of Alpine Securities but Alpine not out of the woods yet

On November 22, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., made its ruling in a case involving Alpine Securities Corporation (“Alpine”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“), reversing… Read More

What to Expect From Trump’s SEC

Market participants are speculating about the new Trump deregulation agenda and how it will impact the SEC.  With Republicans in control of the 119th Congress, we expect to see SEC deregulation and changes aimed at capital formation and… Read More

The SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2024

On November 22, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed 583 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2024 while obtaining orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest amount in SEC history. The 583… Read More

SEC brings charges against BIT Mining Ltd, Azure Power Global Ltd and Adani Green Energy Ltd in alleged massive bribery schemes

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) brought charges in three separate alleged massive bribery schemes. In action #1, brought on November 18, 2024, the SEC announced that BIT Mining Ltd., formerly known as 500.com Limited,… Read More

The SEC’s Amended “Dealer” Definition for Toxic Lenders

In the past five years or so, we’ve written many times about “toxic lenders”. These toxic lenders have been active since the end of the last century and have flourished providing financing to small publicly traded companies quoted… Read More

SEC Charges Olayinka Oyebola and His Accounting Firm With Aiding and Abetting Massive TINGO Fraud

On September 30, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) charged Olayinka Oyebola and his Public Company Accounting Oversight Board-registered accounting firm, Olayinka Oyebola & Co. (Chartered Accountants), with aiding and abetting a massive securities fraud perpetrated by… Read More

Securities Attorney Matthew C McMurdo suspended by the SEC

On September 20, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”) issued an Administrative Order against securities attorney Matthew C. McMurdo for violating Section 4C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule… Read More

SEC Charges Multiple Individuals and Entities in Relationship Investment Scams

On September 17, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) charged five entities and three individuals in connection with two relationship investment scams involving fake crypto asset trading platforms NanoBit and CoinW6, respectively. The SEC’s two complaints… Read More

Commissioner Mark Uyeda Dissents in Unregistered Dealer SEC Enforcement Action

Over the past few years, we have closely followed the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) as it has brought a parade of actions against lenders that purchase variable-rate convertible notes from public companies.  11/17/2017… Read More

Mullen Automotive (MULN): What to Do About Serial Reverse Splitters

At noon on September 13, 2024—Friday the 13th—Mullen Automotive (MULN) announced a 1:100 reverse stock split to become effective on September 17 at 12:01 a.m. The news did not come as a surprise to shareholders. MULN had held… Read More

SEC Charges Seven NASDAQ Listed Public Companies with Violations of Whistleblower Protection Rule

On September 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced settled charges against seven public companies for using employment, separation, and other agreements that violated rules prohibiting actions to impede whistleblowers from reporting potential misconduct to… Read More

Are SEC Whistleblower Awards the Road to Riches or a Waste of Time?

On August 23, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced It had awarded a total of $98 million to two  SEC whistleblowers “whose information and assistance led to an SEC enforcement action and an action brought by… Read More

Court Vacates Order in Unregistered Dealer, Crown Bridge Partners Case

On August 19, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second District in New York ruled in the case of Darkpulse, Inc., Social Life Network, Inc. and Redhawk Holdings Corp. v. Crown Bridge Partners LLC and… Read More

GHS Investments LLC and its owners, Mark Grober, Sarfraz Hajee and Matthew Schissler, settle with SEC – agree to pay disgorgement and fines and surrender remaining notes, warrants and stock.

On August 19, 2024, GHS Investments, LLC (“GHS”) and its owners, Mark Grober, Sarfraz Hajee and Matthew Schissler, came to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“), agreeing to pay disgorgement and fines and surrender… Read More

SEC Charges OTC Link LLC with Failing to File Suspicious Activity Reports

On August 12, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC“) announced charges against OTC Link LLC, a New York-based broker-dealer, for failing to file numerous reports of suspicious financial transactions, known as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), for a… Read More

Cassava Sciences (SAVA) Faces an Indictment and at Least Two Investigations

Cassava Sciences (SAVA) is a Nasdaq issuer that claims to have developed a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease; the product is currently in Phase 3 trials. It’s called Simufilam, and the company says it not only stops the progression… Read More

Meta Materials (MMAT) Declares Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

On Friday, August 9, 2024, Meta Materials Inc. (MMAT) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This turn of events was reported only in a Form 8-K filed with the SEC; no press release or announcement on the company website… Read More

SEC Charges Ideanomics, its former Chairman and CEO, Zheng (Bruno) Wu, current CEO, Alfred Poor, and former CFO, Federico Tovar with Accounting and Disclosure Fraud

On August 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC“) announced settled fraud charges against Ideanomics, Inc., formerly known as Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc., and its former Chairman and CEO, Zheng (Bruno) Wu, for misleading the public… Read More

SEC Awards Whistleblower a Bounty of More Than $37 Million

On July 26, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an award of more than $37 million to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. The whistleblower persisted in reporting the… Read More

OTC Markets Group Guidance on Dilution Risk with Respect to OTCQX and OTCQB Applicants

OTC Markets offers three unique marketplaces for trading over-the-counter (OTC) stocks: the OTC Pink Market, the OTCQB Market and the OTCQX Market. The OTCQB Market and the OTCQX Market offer many benefits not offered by the OTC Pink… Read More

Attorney Mark Basile to Participate in Federal Enforcement Action SEC v. Carebourn Capital L.P. and Chip Alvin Rice

Over the past seven years or so, we’ve followed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s efforts to rein in the excesses of predatory lenders who purchase convertible notes, preferred stock, debt, and sometimes warrants from issuers desperate for the… Read More

Andrew Left of Citron Research Indicted by the DOJ and Charged by the SEC

On July 26, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced litigation filed against activist short seller Andrew Left and his firm, Citron Capital LLC, for devising and executing a $20 million scheme to defraud retail investors who followed… Read More

Jury finds Guy Gentile liable as control person of SureTrader in SEC case

On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, after a ten-day trial, a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida found Guy Gentile, the founder, owner, and CEO of MintBroker International, Ltd., f/k/a Swiss America Securities Ltd. and d/b/a SureTrader, a Bahamas-based broker-dealer, liable as a control person of SureTrader, which operated as a broker-dealer in the United States without being registered, in violation of the federal securities laws. The jury also found Guy Gentile liable for inducing SureTrader’s registration violations.

Important Changes Are in Store for the SEC and Other Federal Agencies

Last week, the Supreme Court handed down two opinions that have the potential to limit the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission in fundamental ways and to curtail, or at least redirect, its ability to discipline individuals… Read More

Does FINRA Rule 6490 Impact Going Public Transactions?

FINRA Rule 6490 has had an important impact on going public transactions specifically reverse mergers with public shell companies.

Benefits of Direct Public Offerings

While going public offers many benefits, it also comes with risks and a large number of regulations with which issuers must become familiar. Despite the risks, the U.S. capital markets remain one of the most attractive sources of… Read More

Xeriant, Inc. Fights Toxic Funder Auctus Fund in Appellate Court

Since 2017, the SEC has been bringing enforcement actions intended to curb the excesses of lenders who deal in convertible securities like promissory notes, preferred stock, warrants, debentures, and more. While the word “lenders” seems anodyne or even… Read More

Meta Materials Executives, John Brda and George Palikaras, charged with Market Manipulation, Fraud and Other Violations

Thanks to an SEC Complaint filed today, MMTLP shareholders finally have the undisputable evidence needed to point their previously misguided blame for their massive losses at the proper culprits. For months after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“)… Read More

What are the SEC Reporting Requirements After My Form S-1 is Effective?

Once the SEC staff declares your company’s Securities Act registration statement on Form S-1 effective, the company becomes subject to the SEC’s reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  These rules require your company to file… Read More