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Steven Seagal settles with SEC over undisclosed bitcoin promotions
It seems that martial artist and actor Steven Seagal isn't above the law. In 2017, he touted the initial coin offering (ICO) for Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G), a digital currency that sounded shady right from the start. Seagal didn't disclose the fact that he was paid by B2G to encourage his fans to buy into the bitcoin, which is required by law when a currency qualifies as a security. (B2G didn't even bother to register as a security, which resulted in the state of New Jersey issuing it a cease-and-desist order.) The actor has agreed to pay $157,000 in disgorgement plus a $157,000 penalty.
SEC charges IT administrator over $7 million insider trading ring
Insider trading among tech companies is nothing new, but some of these unscrupulous workers are more 'successful' than others. The SEC has charged former Palo Alto Networks IT administrator Janardhan Nellore and four friends with conducting insider trading that earned the group over $7 million between 2015 and 2018. Allegedly, Nellore exploited his "IT credentials and work contacts" to access his company's financial data and make illegal share trades. The group was also aware it might be tracked -- Nellore reportedly had the group use variants of the codeword "baby" in emails and texts to refer to the company stock, and the friends made small transactions to avoid tipping off the bank.
Netflix releases worldwide subscriber stats by region for the first time
For the first time, Netflix is reporting its international business operating results by region. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Netflix shared its streaming revenue and membership info for the US and Canada; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Asia-Pacific and Latin America. This change in how Netflix reports its earnings data highlights how important markets outside the US have become -- especially as Netflix faces new competition.
Ericsson will pay over $1 billion to settle US corruption charges
Tech companies have been caught in corruption scandals before, but seldom on this scale. Telecom giant Ericsson has settled with the US Justice Department and SEC for just under $1.1 billion over charges of extensive corruption in several countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company had been accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act between 2000 and 2016 by bribing officials to land customers, falsifying its records and failing to use "reasonable" accounting controls. The SEC, meanwhile, charged Ericsson with bribery that took place between 2011 and 2017.
Uber may have to pay Waymo or redesign its self-driving software
In 2017, Waymo accused Uber of stealing its autonomous driving trade secrets. You may have thought the Uber-Waymo legal battle was over when, in 2018, the companies reached a settlement and Uber agreed to pay around $245 million. But as part of the settlement, the parties brought in an independent software expert to review Uber's software and make sure it didn't misappropriate Waymo's intellectual property. Now, the review is complete, and Uber admits that the findings are not good.
US says digital assets are covered by money laundering and disclosure laws
US regulators issued a blunt warning to cryptocurrency holders who think they're not beholden to the usual rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have put out a joint statement to "remind" people that digital assets like crypto, tokens and other digital assets are subject to laws that bar money laundering and require reporting of suspicious activity. The Bank Secrecy Act's rules "apply very broadly," the officials said.
SEC puts a stop to Telegram's cryptocurrency plans in the US
Telegram's plans for its cryptocurrency and blockchain network may be in jeopardy. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order against the company, which prevents it from distributing and selling its Gram tokens in the country. According to the regulators, the company sold 2.9 billion Grams at discounted prices to 171 initial purchasers worldwide, raising $1.7 billion in the process. A billion of those tokens were purchased by people in the US.
SEC fines Block.one $24 million for unregistered ICO worth billions
Blockchain technology company Block.one has been fined $24 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for running an unregistered ICO (initial coin offering). According to the SEC, the company conducted the ICO between June 2017 and June 2018, raising several billion dollars' worth of digital assets, but did not register it as a securities offerings as stipulated by federal securities law. The SEC says this meant investors were not given the information they needed to make informed decisions.
Internet metrics giant settles charges it faked its own numbers
The online ad world (among others) thrives on metrics to gauge how well its campaigns are working, but what happens when the company providing that data is cooking its own books? The industry is grappling with that issue today. Comscore and its former CEO Serge Matta have settled SEC charges they committed fraud to artificially inflate revenue by $50 million and otherwise inflate their metrics between 2014 and 2016. Reportedly, Matta had Comscore join "non-monetary transactions" where it would exchange data without expecting money, but recognized revenue on that data based on an inflated sense of its value -- and lied to both accountants and auditors about it. That, in turn, made it look like Comscore was growing at an unrealistic pace.
Facebook to pay separate $100 million SEC fine over Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook isn't just settling with the FTC over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The social network has also agreed to pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission $100 million over charges of making "misleading disclosures" over the risk of abusing users' data. The SEC alleged that Facebook knew about the data breach in 2015, but continued to describe possible data breaches to investors in purely "hypothetical" terms. It also didn't have "specific policies or procedures" in effect to make accurate disclosures in light of the results of the investigation.
Microsoft will pay $25 million to settle Hungary bribery charges
Microsoft is on the hook at home for alleged crimes abroad. The company has agreed to pay about $25 million in settlements with both the Justice Department and SEC over charges that its Hungary subsidiary violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The division allegedly discounted prices for its resellers and distributors between 2013 and 2015, using the increased profit margins to fund bribes for government officials and clinch lucrative software deals with Microsoft.
SEC sues Kik for running an unregistered Initial Coin Offering
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing messaging service Kik Interactive, stating that its 2017 digital token sale, which raised $100 million, was essentially an illegal, unregistered securities offering. According to Bloomberg, this is one the highest profile cases yet where the SEC has targeted a company for not registering an offering with the regulator.
SEC approves a stock exchange built for tech startups
For tech companies, going public is often fraught with pressure -- they're suddenly expected to deliver positive news every quarter, and they might push innovation to the wayside in the quest to become proftiable. They should soon have a better alternative, though. The SEC has approved the creation of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, a Silicon Valley-based platform aimed at tech startups that want to go public while taking their time to develop products and services. The exchange will have rules to limit executive bonuses, require more disclosure for milestones and reward long-term shareholders with more voting power.
SEC, Elon Musk reach an agreement about his tweeting
Ever since Elon Musk tweeted about taking Tesla private his use of the platform has been troublesome in the government's eyes, but today the CEO reached an amended agreement with the SEC. According to Reuters, if a judge approves the deal then charges of contempt in his earlier settlement will be dropped. It requires that Musk get prior approval from Tesla's legal department when he makes public statements about the company's finances. In December, Musk told 60 Minutes "I do not respect the SEC" and cited the First Amendment. The SEC sought to hold him in contempt due to a February tweet that overstated how many vehicles Tesla projected to build this year. A copy of the agreement, uploaded by BBC reporter Dave Lee, shows the specific language added that explains:
Judge orders Elon Musk and the SEC to settle Tesla tweet dispute
Tesla chief Elon Musk told reporters outside the Manhattan Federal Courthouse that he was "very happy" over the outcome of the SEC's latest complaint against him. The commission sought to hold him in contempt for violating their previous settlement over a financially relevant tweet, after all, but the judge has merely ordered both parties to resolve their dispute outside of court. "Take a deep breath, put your reasonableness pants on, and work this out," District Judge Alison Nathan said during the hearing.
VW and its former CEO charged with defrauding investors in diesel scandal
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it is charging Volkswagen and its former CEO Martin Winterkorn for defrauding US investors during the company's "Dieselgate" scandal. The agency accused the company and its top executive of issuing more than $13 billion in bonds and securities in the US despite knowing that more than half a million vehicles in the market failed to meet emissions standards.
Lyft officially files to go public
Lyft has revealed its financial details for the first time as it prepares for an initial public offering. Like rival Uber, it first filed the paperwork confidentially in December, and now its S-1 is public through the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lyft lost $911 million in 2018, but doubled revenue to $2.1 billion from 2017. It had $8.1 billion in bookings over the year, up from $4.6 billion in 2017. Lyft didn't state how much it's looking to raise in the IPO -- it left a placeholder figure of $100 million in the filing. It plans to go public on Nasdaq under the "LYFT" ticket symbol.
SEC says Elon Musk violated settlement with tweet
Elon Musk might be in hot water with regulators mere months after he reached a settlement over a financially relevant Twitter post. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for allegedly violating the settlement by tweeting that Tesla would make "around 500k" cars in 2019. Musk was supposed to get approval from Tesla before social network posts that would include vital info, but the SEC claimed he directly shared "inaccurate and material" data with more than 24 million people.
SEC brings charges in connection with hack of its financial system
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it is bringing charges against a Ukranian hacker for breaking into the agency's corporate filing system to access nonpublic information. The SEC is also charging a number of individual traders and entities who used that information to generate more than $4.1 million on illegal trades. The Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced it will be bringing related criminal charges.
After Math: Where are the adults
It's been quite the week of tantrums by the man-babies who run some of the largest companies in the tech industry. While Elon Musk cried and stamped his feet through what should have been a softball 60 Minutes interview, Twitter head Jack Dorsey spent much of his week encouraging everybody to visit sunny, genocidal Myanmar. And let's not even get started on what have become Mark Zuckerberg's weekly Facebook fiascos. Still, it's nice to see that at least some online institutions still have grownups behind the wheel.
