S.E.C. Fines 4 for Trades Involving Dow Jones
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A former Dow Jones & Company director and three associates will pay more than $24 million to settle charges that they traded illegally on inside knowledge of the News Corporationâs takeover of Dow Jones.
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Three former executives of the Invesco Funds Group were barred from the mutual fund industry and agreed to pay a combined $340,000 in fines to resolve accusations that they helped favored clients make about $58 billion in improper trades, regulators said
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A fine levied against Bear Stearns for failing to detect fraud in a hedge fund customer has struck fear in the heart of Wall Street.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission approved settlements with Brocade Communications Systems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Mercury Interactive Corp. , the first companies to be fined since the government's crackdown on illegal stock options backdating began more than a year ago.
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Fidelity Investments will pay $3.75 million in fines for supervisory failures, including allowing traders to accept gifts like Super Bowl tickets and chartered flights, NASD, the brokerage industryâs main regulator, said yesterday.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange  Commission said on Friday that financial services firm Edward  Jones has agreed to pay $75 million to settle charges related  to its 529 college savings plans and preferred mutual fund  family program.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating about a dozen brokerage firms that may have failed to obtain the best price for stocks traded for customers, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.
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By Byron Acohido  The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday suspended trading for 35 companies that allegedly benefited from spam e-mail campaigns to hype their thinly traded penny stocks.
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Report: Regulators look for figures from Dow Jones, Gannett, Knight Ridder, New York Times, others. NEW YORK  - The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking information from more than six newspaper
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Brokerage Charles Schwab &amp; Co. has agreed to pay a &#36;350,000 civil fine to settle federal regulators' allegations that it illegally allowed certain customers to change mutual fund trade orders after the market's close.
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The Bank of East Asia  said on Thursday that Chairman David Li had received a "Wells Notice" from staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with an investigation into trading in Dow Jones & Co. Inc.  shares.
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A New York stockbroker was indicted on  Friday on charges of stealing more than $4.1 million from three  Wall Street firms, prosecutors said.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to curb fund companies from steering stock trades to brokerage firms that agree to sell their funds.
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In today&#39;s fines, Merrill Lynch &amp; Co. was hit with the second largest, at US$1.6 million, followed by American Express Financial Advisors, at $700,000.
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Charles Schwab Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to pay a fine of $350,000 related to the processing of certain mutual fund orders.
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Reuters reported on Wednesday that four former El Paso Corp. natural gas traders will plead guilty to criminal charges for reporting bogus trade prices to an industry publication.
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(InfoWorld) - The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken the drastic step of suspending trading in shares of 35 companies whose stocks have frequently been touted in mass spam campaigns. SEC officials said on Feb. 8 that the firms involved -- none of which are household names -- have been the subject of repeated spam efforts meant to drive up trading of their securities and, subsequently, the value of the companies themselves. The trading bans will last for 10 days, after which shares in the involved companies will be unlocked -- unless the SEC's ongoing investigation proves any of the firms were involved in the e-mail schemes. While the ban might seem unfair to the businesses involved, especially if their names and securities were merely selected by scammers looking for penny stocks to inflate in so-called pump-and-dump operations, SEC officials said that in each business's case, there were sufficient questions raised regarding the "adequacy and accuracy" of information being advertised about the companies. Criminals have increasingly begun using spam to drive up interest in cheap stocks over the last several years. Before sending out mass messages about a specific firm, the individuals buy stock in the companies in the expectation that, with their e-mails, they can convince other people to purchase shares. When prices of the shares involved rise, the schemers sell off their own holdings, thus the pump-and-dump moniker. The spam messages, which often feature subject lines such as "Fast Money," have become one of the types of unwanted e-mail most frequently delivered to inboxes over the last year, alongside advertisements for prescription medications. Whenever misleading information is being widely distributed about a firm whose securities are traded, the SEC takes such actions, an agency representative said. "All we can say is that we suspend trading any time we think misinformation about specific securities is being reported," said Helene Glotzer, an SEC spokeswoman. "We're not making a statement that these companies themselves were behind the misstatements, but if the information is out there we feel it is important to let the investing public know; we'll continue our investigation, and if it is appropriate to take action against any of the companies, that is what we will do." The suspensions are part of an SEC initiative known as Operation Spamalot, which was launched specifically to shield investors from spam e-mail "hyping" small company stocks. SEC officials said that anyone who has received such e-mail will recognize the names of the companies who were suspended, as they are among the most frequently cited businesses in securities-related spam campaigns. The messages typically advertise some new product or impending deal that will increase the value of the companies and encourage investors to buy their low-priced securities, which are usually penny stocks. For instance, among the companies whose shares were suspended is Apparel Manufacturing Associates, a Bloomfield, Conn.-based firm that markets itself as a management and development company focused on the fashion arena. The SEC said that on Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, shares in Apparel Manufacturing closed at 6 cents, on a trading volume of 3,500 shares. After a weekend-long spam campaign using e-mails about the company advertising "huge news" that encouraged investors to "get in before the wire," trading volume in the stock rose to 484,568 shares on Monday, Dec. 18, with the price of the stock rising to more than 19 cents a share. The agency said that two days later the price had climbed to 45 cents per share, but one week after, Apparel Manufacturing's share price had fallen to 10 cents on trading volume of 65,350 shares. Calls to the company seeking comment on the stock suspension were not immediately returned. If the SEC investigation finds no link between the companies involved and the spam campaigns, their shares will be released for trading on March 21, 2007. SEC officials noted that the suspensions were all handed out to companies that are not subject to the SEC reporting requirements and whose shares are not listed on any exchange or on the OTC Bulletin Board. This means that brokers posting quotations for the purchase and sale of the securities are not required to conduct due diligence regarding the issuers, according to the agency. The 35 companies whose trading was suspended by the SEC are: Advanced Powerline Technologies, America Asia Petroleum, Amerossi International Group, Apparel Manufacturing Associates, Asgard Holdings, Biogenerics, China Gold, CTR Investments & Consulting, DC Brands International, Equal Trading, Equitable Mining, Espion International, Goldmark Industries, GroFeed, Healtheuniverse, Interlink Global, Investigative Services Agencies, iPackets International, Koko Petroleum, Leatt Corporation, LOM Logistics, Modern Energy, National Healthcare Logistics, Presidents Financial, Red Truck Entertainment, Relay Capital, Rodedawg International Industries, Rouchon Industries, Software Effective Solutions, Solucorp Industries, Sports-stuff.com, UBA Technology, Wataire Industries, WayPoint Biomedical Holdings, and Wineco Productions.