SEC Issues $3.8 Million Whistleblower Award

SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a $3.8 million award to a whistleblower who provided significant information that helped the SEC disrupt an ongoing fraudulent scheme.  The resulting enforcement action returned millions of dollars to harmed investors.

The SEC has awarded approximately $505 million to 87 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012.  This includes awards to 20 individuals in the last 10 months, totaling almost $119 million.  All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. read more »

German watchdog files new Wirecard insider trading complaint

REUTERS

The German financial watchdog BaFin said on Tuesday that it had filed a complaint with Munich prosecutors over a further episode of alleged insider trading in Wirecard.

BaFin said the transaction took place on June 24, the day before Wirecard filed for insolvency.

It said it involved a 6.6 million euro ($7.52 million) sale in shares by MB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH. That is the investment vehicle of the former chief executive Markus Braun, once one of the collapsed payment company’s largest shareholders. read more »

Lawmakers slam Robinhood after apparent suicide by 20-year-old trader

CNN

US lawmakers are pressing Robinhood to improve safeguards on the trading app a month after the apparent suicide of a 20-year-old student who saw a negative account balance of $730,000.

"This should have never happened," Rep. Lauren Underwood told CNN Business on Tuesday.

The family of Alex Kearns, the 20-year-old Robinhood user, said he died by suicide June 12 after confusion over an apparent negative balance on the millennial-focused trading app.

The tragedy drew widespread attention to the potential risks of the free-trading boom ushered in by Robinhood, which caters to young, first-time investors. read more »