Fine

Reason: Anti-Money Laundering Comment: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC (ICBCFS) $5.3 million for systemic anti-money laundering (AML) compliance failures, including its failure to have a reasonable AML program in place to monitor and detect suspicious transactions, as well as other violations, including financial, recordkeeping, ...

Content of Penalty:   Citigroup was fined 57 million Hong Kong dollars (€6.16 million) by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for the bank’s actions around the listing application of an initial public offering (IPO). The US bank was also reprimanded for its failure to discharge its duties as a sponsor for Real Gold Mining’s 2009 IPO. Citigroup’s due diligence on Real ...

Reason: MisconductContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the hedge fund advisory firm Visium Asset Management LP has agreed to settle charges related to asset mismarking and insider trading by its privately managed hedge funds and portfolio managers.  Separately, the firm’s CFO agreed to settle charges that he failed to respond appropriately to red flags that should ...

Reason: Non CompliantContent of Penalty: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Aegis Capital Corp. $550,000 for failing to have adequate supervisory and anti-money laundering (AML) programs tailored to detect "red flags" or suspicious activity connected to its sale of low-priced securities. FINRA found that Aegis’ supervisory system for trading in delivery versus payment (DVP) ...

Reason: MisconductComment: Aegis Capital Corporation, a New York-based brokerage firm, has admitted that it failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on numerous suspicious transactions.Content of Penalty: Broker-dealers are required to file SARs for certain transactions suspected to involve fraudulent activity or have no business or apparent lawful purpose.  The SEC’s order found that Aegis failed to file SARs on suspicious ...

Reason: FraudulentContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Silicon Valley-based private company Theranos Inc., its founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, and its former President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani with raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance.  Theranos ...

Reason: FraudulentContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against an Austin, Texas-based investment adviser for defrauding his clients through a “cherry-picking” scheme.  The adviser, Robert Mark Magee, who is the principal, sole owner, and sole employee of Valor Capital Asset Management LLC, has agreed to be banned from the securities industry and pay more than ...

Reason: FraudulentContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. for its failure to perform required gatekeeping functions in the unregistered sales of securities on behalf of a China-based issuer and its affiliates. The SEC’s order found that Merrill Lynch sold almost three million shares of Longtop Financial Technological ...

Reason: FraudulentContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Dallas-based oil-and-gas company and two of its executives with defrauding investors out of at least $950,000 through a string of fraudulent oil-and-gas securities offerings. The SEC’s complaint, which was filed yesterday in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Shezad Akbar used his company, Americrude, ...

Reason: AbuseContent of Penalty: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it charged the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges with regulatory failures in connection with multiple episodes, including several disruptive market events.  The charges arose from five separate investigations and include the first-ever charged violation of Regulation SCI.  The Commission adopted Reg SCI to strengthen the ...