The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged BTIG, a New York-based institutional trading and investment banking firm, with repeated violations of the agency's short-selling rules.
According to the SEC's complaint, from December 2016 through July 2017, BTIG marked more than 90 sale orders from a hedge fund customer as "long" and "short exempt" when the orders should have been marked as "short." According to the complaint, as a registered broker-dealer, BTIG had independent gatekeeper responsibilities to ensure that the trades it executed were correctly marked.
The SEC alleges that BTIG ignored facts indicating that the hedge fund's representations that it owned the securities it was selling and that it would deliver them by the settlement date were false. Despite many red flags, the SEC said that BTIG allegedly continued to mark the hedge fund's orders as "long" and "short exempt" without making an effort to determine whether those markings were correct.
In addition, the SEC alleges that because BTIG failed to borrow or locate the shares before doing the transactions, which were in reality short sales, the firm violated another short-selling rule.
The agency is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest and undisclosed civil penalties.
Meanwhile, DPL Financial Partners adds two annuity executives and Prime Capital Financial hires a Mid-Atlantic retirement plan consultant
Andrew Komarow pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Hartford to defrauding three financial services companies of close to $3.3 million.
Elsewhere, Cetera picks up a $210 million Connecticut team from MML, while Wells Fargo FiNet adds a San Diego family practice from LPL
Celebrity endorsements, $500M in claimed assets, and a state regulator stepping in.
“We needed to become a more agile and efficient organization,” said American Express CEO Stephen Squeri.
Knighthead Life entered the market with a competitive MYGA. A strong launch earned advisor confidence and paved the way for FIAs.
As AI makes financial information more accessible than ever, Lana Hock explains why human judgment, trust, and empathy remain the qualities clients value most in a financial advisor
