Some recent regulatory actions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission were settled by the following financial institutions.
• Citigroup Global Markets agreed to pay USD 15 million to settle the charges of the SEC for failing to have sufficient policies and procedures in place to prevent and detect securities transactions that were based on the misuse of non-public available information. Citigroup Global Markets will also hire a consultant to recommend improvements.
• Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC agreed to pay USD 180 million to settle the SECs charges of defrauding investors in the ASTA/MAT and Falcon funds. The firms claimed that the funds were of low-risk and suitable for traditional bond investors.
• Guggenheim Partners Investment Management LLC agreed to pay USD 20 million to settle SEC’s charges of failing to disclose a USD 50 million loan one of the senior managers received from an advisory client.
• Bank of New York Mellon Corporporation is to pay USD 14.8 million in agreement to settle the SEC’s claim that it broke certain anti-bribery laws by awarding internships to family members of officials with links to a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund. The bank reportedly hired the sons of two officials including a nephew of one of them without following its own procedures for evaluating candidates.
