Post by
coldheat on Mar 27, 2015 11:23am
SEC on the warpath!
Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of global financial services firm Macquarie Group Limited, has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying $15 million and separately covering the costs of setting up a Fair Fund to compensate investors who suffered losses after purchasing shares in the public offering by Puda Coal. The SEC previously charged the Puda Coal executives behind the offering fraud at the company, which is no longer in business. “Underwriters are critical gatekeepers who are relied upon by the investing public to ferret out the essential facts and address potential inaccuracies before marketing a public stock offering,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Macquarie Capital proceeded with this offering despite a due diligence process that exposed a false claim by Puda Coal, and investors suffered massive losses when the truth publicly came to light.” The SEC also charged former Macquarie Capital managing director Aaron Black and former investment banker William Fang for failing to exercise appropriate care in their due diligence review. Black agreed to pay $212,711 and Fang agreed to pay $35,000 to settle the charges.