Eleven institutional investment managers agreed to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges over their failure to file quarterly securities holdings reports.
The managers failed to file Forms 13F over varying time periods in recent years.
Form 13F requires institutional investment managers to, among other things, disclose the fair market value of Section 13(f) Securities under management.
The charged firms were required to file the form because they have discretion over more than $100 million in such securities, according to a Sept. 17 SEC announcement.
Nine of the 11 firms will pay more than $3.4 million in combined civil penalties to settle the charges.
Two firms will pay no civil penalties because they self-reported the violations at issue and otherwise cooperated with the SEC’s investigations, the SEC said.
And two of the firms, Nationale-Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne and NEPC, an institutional investor consultant, were also charged with failing to file Form 13H as required for large traders who trade a significant amount of exchange-listed securities, the SEC noted.
“The integrity of the securities markets depends largely on firms providing accurate, timely information about their securities holdings and trading activity,” said Jason Burt, director of the Denver regional office, in a statement. “These resolutions illustrate how seriously the Commission takes non-compliance as well as the benefits a firm may derive from self-reporting its non-compliance.”
The firms and their respective penalties are:
• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth - $375,000
• Azzad Asset Management - $225,000
• Bulltick Wealth Management - $175,000
• Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel - no financial penalty
• Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors. - $225,000
• Focus Financial Network - $475,000
• Mason Investment Advisory Services - $525,000
• Nationale-Nederlanden - no financial penalty
• NEPC - $725,000
• TD Private Client Wealth - $475,000
• Traphagen Investment Advisors - $225,000
A spokesperson for NEPC declined comment. The remaining firms did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
