The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Division of Enforcement, has published its annual report for the 2020 fiscal year.
According to the report, the Commission brought 715 enforcement actions of which 405 were “standalone” actions. The Commission also obtained more than 475 bars or suspensions against market participants and suspended trading in the securities of 196 issuers.
The SEC also “triaged” approximately 23,650 tips, complaints, and referrals and opened close to 1,200 new inquiries and investigations. The SEC garnered judgments and orders totaling approximately $4.68 billion in disgorgement and penalties – the highest amount on record.
The majority of the SEC’s 405 standalone cases concerned securities offerings (32%), investment advisory and investment company issues (21%), and issuer reporting/accounting and auditing (15%) matters.
The report highlights some “noteworthy” enforcement actions. In the cyber sector, the SEC touts the following cases:
- A digital-asset entrepreneur and his company for allegedly defrauding investors in an ICO that raised more than $42 million from hundreds of investors.
- NAC Foundation, NAC’s CEO, and a political lobbyist for allegedly defrauding investors in an ICO by misrepresenting to investors that they were purchasing tokens that could be converted to a digital asset security that was superior to the original bitcoin.
- Blockchain services company BitClave PTE Ltd for conducting an unregistered ICO. As part of a settlement, BitClave agreed to pay over $25 million to harmed investors.
- Unikrn Inc., an operator of an online eSports gaming and gambling platform, for conducting an unregistered ICO. As part of a settlement, Unikrn agreed to pay $6.1 million to harmed investors.
- Boon Tech and its CEO for a fraudulent, unregistered offering of digital asset securities in connection with the sale of approximately $5 million in Boon Coins to more than 1,500 investors
- Actor Steven Seagal for failing to disclose payments he received for promoting an investment an ICO conducted by Bitcoiin2Gen.
The report is embedded below.