Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $9.5 million on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. , described as "a Dutch public company headquartered in London, United Kingdom", for the "VW 'dieselgate' scandal".

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a penalty of $36,590 on Christopher D. Bachinski for alleged insider trading involving Buckeye Partners LP, of Houston, Texas, and IFM Investors Pty Ltd., of Australia.

Administrative Order imposing a fine of $18 million in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, of Germany; BMW of North America, LLC and BMW US Capital, LLC, both of Delaware, regarding "inaccurate disclosures ... of its retail vehicle sales volume in the United States".

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $35,000 on Michael Vernon, a resident of Spain, for alleged fraud involving TCA Fund Management Group Corp., of Florida; TCA Global Credit Fund GP Ltd., TCA Global Credit Fund LP, TCA Global Credit Fund Ltd., and TCA Global Credit Master Fund LP, all of the Cayman Islands.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $35,000 on Steven Rosen, a resident of Kew Gardens, New York, for alleged fraud involving TCA Fund Management Group Corp., of Florida; TCA Global Credit Fund GP Ltd., TCA Global Credit Fund LP, TCA Global Credit Fund Ltd., and TCA Global Credit Master Fund LP, all of the Cayman Islands.

Administrative Order imposing financial penalties totaling $167,629 on Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services LLC and Northern Trust Global Fund Services Cayman Limited, of the Cayman Islands, "as the fund administrators for the LR Global Frontier Master Fund, Ltd. and two feeder funds, the LR Global Frontier Fund, Ltd. (offshore) and the LR Global Frontier Fund LP (onshore)", for regulatory breaches regarding an alleged fraud by Donald S. LaGuardia, Jr.

Administrative Order imposing a $6.1 million penalty on Unikrn, Inc., described as Delaware-domiciled, Washington State-based "operator of an online eSports gaming and gambling platform", regarding an unregistered securities offering of a digital token known as UnikoinGold that, inter alia, involved Bermuda-domiciled Unikrn Bermuda Ltd., before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Editor's Note: Registers of Directors & Officers and Members for Unikrn Bermuda Ltd. that were obtained by OffshoreAlert from the company's registered agent in 2018 showed that, as of August 16, 2018, the sole shareholder of the company was Unikrn Inc. and that its directors were David Antivilo, of Las Vegas, Nevada, who was also Chief Compliance Officer; Kingsley Edwards, of Las Vegas, Nevada; Christopher G. Garrod, and Jacqueline King, both of Bermuda. On the Government of Bermuda's website, the current directors of the company are identified as Karl Flores, of Australia; Rahul Sood, of Washington State, USA; Christopher Garrod, and Jacqueline King. On Unirkn's website at www.unikrn.com, it is stated that the group was "Established in 2014 as a collaboration between Rahul Sood and Karl Flores".

Administrative Order imposing an industry ban on John Geraci, described as a Florida resident who was "the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Asset Management, a Cayman Islands-based asset manager during the time of the alleged misconduct, from approximately the summer of 2015 to the fall of 2016", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing industry bans on Anton Senderov and Lior Barbazara, both citizens of Israel, regarding their involvement in "internet binary options brokers LBinary and Ivory Option", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing penalties totaling $67.3 million on Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., described as "a direct selling company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with headquarters in the United States" whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act involving Herbalife China, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing penalties of $11.5 million on Interactive Brokers LLC, described as "a registered broker0dealer headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing penalties totaling $21.7 million against World Acceptance Corporation, of South Carolina, for "violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" regarding a "bribery scheme" involving "WAC's former wholly-owned subsidiary in Mexico, WAC de Mexico, S.A. de CV".

Administrative Order imposing an industry ban on Benjamin Alderson, a resident of the United Kingdom and a former CEO of deVere USA Inc., before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing penalties against Novartis AG, described as a Switzerland-based "global provider of pharmaceutical and healthcare products", for "improper activities", including "improper payments", "forged contracts", and "false books and records", involving its subsidiaries and affiliates in Greece, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing a $900,000 fine on Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-domiciled provider of insurance and reinsurance whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for failing to disclose "over $5.3 million" in perquisites to Mark E. Watson III, its former CEO, president, and director, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings against  Gibraltar Global Securities, Inc., described as "a Bahamian broker-dealer", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Administrative Order imposing disgorgement, interest, and a civil penalty totaling $29.3 million against BitClave PTE Ltd., described as "an early-stage blockchain services company that operates through an entity in Singapore and maintains its principal place of operations in San Jose, California", for conducting an unregistered Initial Coin Offering, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings against Warren Anthony Davis, described as a citizen of the Bahamas and founder and president of Gibraltar Global Securities Inc., "a Bahamian broker-dealer", regarding the sale of shares of Magnum d'Or, "a penny stock".

Administrative Order imposing a fine of $3.5 million against Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC for breaching "a conflict of interest rule, by issuing or maintaining credit ratings where MCR employees who participated in determining or monitoring the credit ratings also participated in the sales or marketing of a product or service of MCR", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Imposing Penalties for securities violations on 1Globe Capital, LLC, described as a Delaware company based in Boston, MA, and Beijing, China that is "a family office that purchases stock listed on US exchanges", and Jiaqiang 'Chiang' Li, described as a resident of Boston and Beijing, regarding trading in Sinovac Biotech Ltd., described as an Antigua and Barbuda-domiciled firm based in China whose shares are listed on NASDAQ, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing a $5 million civil money penalty against Bloomberg Tradebook LLC for "omissions of material facts and material misstatements made by Tradebook, then an agency broker-dealer, in connection with its use of an undisclosed order routing arrangement called the Low Cost Router", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order suspending chartered accountant Jeffery A. Curran, of Calgary, Canada, from appearing before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding "false accounting" by Penn West Petroleum Ltd., of which he was Vice President of Accounting and Reporting.

Administrative Order suspending chartered accountant Todd H. Takeyasu, of Calgary, Canada, from practicing before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator determined that he "engaged in accounting practices that resulted in false and misleading journal entries that had no adequate documentary support or basis in reality" while serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Penn West Petroleum, Ltd.

Administrative Order imposing monetary penalties totaling $3.2 million against Everest Capital LLC, of Delaware, and Marko Dimitrijevic, of Coral Gables, Florida, regarding Cayman Islands-domiciled Everest Global Fund LP, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing monetary penalties totaling $126,559 for insider trading against Wei Duan, a citizen of China, regarding Momo, Inc., a Cayman Islands company based in China, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing monetary penalties on American Bondholders Foundation, LLC, of Delaware, and Jonna Bianco, of Tennessee, regarding "thousands of defaulted bonds issued by the Republic of China between 1912 and 1942", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order Instituting Proceedings alleging "improper professional conduct" involving, inter alia, British Virgin Islands-domiciled, United Kingdom-based Interactive Multi-Media Auction Corporation, now known as Stop Sleep Go Inc., and Delaware-domiciled, South Korea-based IMK Group Inc. against PLS, CPA, a.k.a. PLS CPAs; Chang G. Park, CPA, a.k.a. Changgeun Park; Joseph Yongyun Lee, CPA, a.k.a. Yong Yun Lee, and Juchi Lee, CPA, a.k.a. Juchi Lee Fernandez, a.k.a. Ju-Chi Lee, a.k.a. Ju Chi Lee, a.k.a. Sue Lee, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing a fine of $115,000 and other penalties against Brian L. Ferdinand regarding Liquid Holdings Group Inc., a Delaware firm whose shares were listed on NASDAQ, and QuantX Management LLP, a British "partner-funded trading firm that allocated capital to traders", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing a fine of $25,000 against Kenneth D. Shifrin regarding Liquid Holdings Group Inc., a Delaware firm whose shares were listed on NASDAQ, and QuantX Management LLP, a British "partner-funded trading firm that allocated capital to traders", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing a fine of $40,000 against Brian M. Storms regarding Liquid Holdings Group Inc., a Delaware firm whose shares were listed on NASDAQ, and QuantX Management LLP, a British "partner-funded trading firm that allocated capital to traders", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing disgorgement and interest totaling $24.5 million against Eni SpA, described as "an Italian multinational oil and gas company", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order Imposing disgorgement of $157,000 and a fine of $157,000 - to be paid over 330 days under a payment plan - for promoting an Initial Coin Offering by Bitcoiin2Gen "without disclosing that the issuer was paying him for the promotions" against "well-known Hollywood actor and producer" Steven Seagal, a United States citizen residing in Russia, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Proceedings, Making Findings & Imposing Sanctions, including a $10 million fine, against MetLife, Inc., domiciled in Delaware, based in New York, NY, regarding, inter alia, an "error related to accounting for variable annuity guarantees assumed by a MetLife subsidiary, MetLife Reinsurance Company of Bermuda, from a former operating joint venture in Japan", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Making Findings and Imposing Sanctions, including disgorgement of $43.7 million, against Tim Leissner, a former senior officer with Goldman Sachs, regarding alleged "bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi', before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions against David F. Bandimere regarding "two Ponzi schemes" - Nevis-domiciled IV Capital Ltd. and New Mexico-domiciled Universal Consulting Resources LLC - before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing Sanctions for violating "the registration and exchange trading provisions of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act" against XBT Corp Sarl, d.b.a. First Global Credit, a cryptocurrency exchange firm domiciled in Switzerland, formerly d.b.a. First Global Credit Nevis, before the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing a $24 million penalty for conducting an unregistered Initial Coin Offering "worth several billion dollars" against Block.one, described as a Cayman Islands-domiciled "technology company" with "offices in Hong Kong and Blacksburg, Virginia", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Editor's Note: On its website at www.block.one, Block.one's "Executive Team" is identified as Brendan Blumer, Daniel Larimer, Andrew Bliss, Steve Ellis, Alex Erasmus, Abby Blumer, James Mendes, Eddie Schwartz, Michael Alexander, Kokuei (Guo) Yuan, and Rob Jesudason. News reports have stated that Block.one's ICO raised $4 billion.

Order Instituting Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing a $20 million penalty against Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., a Cayman Islands-domiciled, Los Angeles-based multi-level marketing firm whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, regarding "false and misleading public statements in numerous U.S. regulatory filings regarding its China business model", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Administrative Order imposing financial penalties on Leonardo Cornide and Jorge Falcon, both of Florida, regarding "the failure to disclose conflicts of interest by Cornide and Falcon, acting as investment advisers to Premier Assurance Group, SPC Ltd., a Cayman Islands-registered insurance company".

Cease & Desist Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Chip Hackley regarding an alleged stock manipulation scheme.

Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposting a Civil Penalty against Marvell Technology Group, Ltd., domiciled in Bermuda, based in Santa Clara, California, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions regarding Synergy Hybrid Fund Ltd. and Synergy Hybrid Feeder Fund Ltd., both domiciled in the Cayman Islands, against ED Capital Management LLC, d.b.a. Daniloff Capital Management LLC, domiciled in Delaware, based in New York, and Elliott Daniloff, a.k.a. Ilya Olegovich Danilov, a citizen of Russia and the USA, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings and Making Findings regarding evidence that "an Indian government official had made a $2 million bribe demand" against Sridhar Thiruvengadam, a citizen of India, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

First Amended Complaint alleging securities fraud regarding Environmental Packaging Technologies Holdings, Inc. and CURE Pharmaceutical Holding Corp. in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Morrie Tobin, a resident of Los Angeles, California; Milan Patel, a resident of Miami, Florida; Matthew Ledvina, an attorney residing in Switzerland; Daniel Lacher, a resident of Switzerland; Brian Quinn, a resident of Newport Beach, California, and David Skriloff, a resident of New York, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Order Instituting Public Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions in the matter of RSM US LLP, formerly McGladrey LLP, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing a Cease-and-Desist Order in the matter of Deutsche Bank AG before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Making Findings and Imposing Cease-and-Desist Order regarding Initial Coin Offerings in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. ICO Rating, of Russia.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings, Making Findings, & Imposing Remedial Sanctions in the Matter of Richard Targett-Adams, a resident of France, regarding Wintercap SA, of Switzerland, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Findings and Sanctions regarding insider trading in the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lorenz Erne, of Switzerland.

Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings in the matter of Medisun Precision Medicine, Ltd., of the Marshall Islands, whose shares are listed on OTC Link; Next Graphite, Inc., of Nevada, and Omni Shrimp, Inc., of Nevada, before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.