US Legal & Regulation

The hedge fund industry is an indirect beneficiary of the new JOBS Act in the USA as it will revolutionise how alternative investment funds are marketed to the public, according to Don Steinbrugge of Agecroft Partners… »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged twin brothers from the UK with defrauding approximately 75,000 investors through an Internet-based pump-and-dump scheme. According to the SEC allegations, the brothers touted a fake “stock picking robot” that purportedly identified penny stocks set to double in price. Instead, they were merely touting stocks they were being paid separately to promote. »

The Federal Reserve Board has announced its approval of a statement clarifying that an entity covered by section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the so-called Volcker Rule, has the full two-year period provided by the statute to fully conform its activities and investments, unless the Board extends the conformance period. »

The US District Court for the District of Colorado has entered an order against defendants Flint-McClung Capital LLC (FMC), of Englewood, Colorado, and Shawon McClung, formerly of Denver, Colorado, requiring them jointly and severally to pay restitution of USD1,701,250 and a USD4.3 million civil monetary penalty. The order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged an online brokerage and clearing agency specialising in options and futures as well as four officials at the firm and a customer involved in an abusive naked short selling scheme. »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order to halt an ongoing Ponzi scheme that targeted members of the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles. »

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a complaint in federal court in Idaho charging Brad Lee Demuzio of Chubbuck, Idaho and his company, Demuzio Capital Management, with operating a Ponzi scheme that solicited nearly USD1.8 million. »

Robert Stinson, Jr, of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 33 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay more than USD14 million in restitution for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 263 investors of more than USD17 million. »

President Obama on 5 April, 2012 signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), which seeks to eliminate certain restrictions on capital formation and to encourage economic growth in the United States by “improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies,” a new category of issuers created by the Act. »

The United States District Court for the Central District of California has entered a Final Judgment against David E Howard II, Flatiron Capital Partners, LLC (FCP), and Flatiron Systems, LLC (FS). »