Enforcement

Two broker dealers were fined a total of $62,500 for municipal bond fair pricing and trade reporting violations, while two individuals were fined $35,000 and suspended for violating other muni rules, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Monday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the leader of a Detroit-based investment advisor for stealing nearly $3.1 million from a pension fund that his firm manages for the city's police officers and firefighters.

Testimony by former Treasurer Martha Shoffner is under review by lawmakers for possibly perjury following her indictment on 14 federal charges.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Tuesday raided the offices of Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, according to local reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is hammering home the need for issuers to clean up their internal procedures in a new way, bond lawyers said Thursday, by basing a case on documents not intended for market consumption.

A former investment banker at Goldman, Sachs, & Co. has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and be barred from the securities industry for five years for his involvement in a pay to play scheme involving a Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged South Miami, Fla. with defrauding investors by negligently making misstatements and failing to disclose actions it took that jeopardized the tax-exempt status of $12 million of bonds.

A trio of convicted bid riggers deserve prison terms of more than 16 years as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines when they face a judge in July, according to the government's sentencing recommendations.

Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Linda Thompson must overcome bad poll numbers in her re-election bid as the capital city's woes provide a Democratic primary backdrop.

Arkansas State Treasurer Martha Shoffner was arrested Friday by the FBI on a charge of public corruption dealing with extortion.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined five firms nearly $200,000 for violations of municipal securities rules, and ordered that they pay many thousands more in customer restitution.

While current and former SEC officials say the agency could only do so much in its securities fraud case against Harrisburg, Pa., that didn't set well with critics.

The SEC's fraudulent-disclosure charge against Harrisburg, Pa., has larger implications for secondary market disclosures, legal experts assert.

Ohio Auditor David Yost warned local governments to tread carefully when talking about their financial conditions, calling this week's SEC charges against Harrisburg, Pa. a "watershed moment" for local politicians.

The SEC's fraud accusations against Harrisburg, Pa., could be a deterrent, some market observers say, even if the city appeared to suffer little from the action.

Critics say the Securities and Exchange Commission should dig well beyond its cease-and-desist order in its Harrisburg, Pa., securities fraud case.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it has charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for making misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating.

George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney have been named co-directors of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division — the first time the SEC will has had two leaders of the group.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the chief executive officer of a Chicago-based advisory firm with lying to the California Public Employers' Retirement System and other clients about the amount of money managed by the firm.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a firm $37,500 for trade and books and records violations, and a broker $5,000, giving him a four-month suspension, for telling a customer he redeemed bonds rather than sold them without the customer's permission.