Showing posts with label DORMANT COMPANIES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DORMANT COMPANIES. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

SEC MOVES TO THWART PUMP-AND-DUMP SCHEMES BY SUSPENDING TRADES IN 128 SHELL COMPANIES

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SEC Suspends Trading in 128 Dormant Shell Companies to Put Them Out of Reach of Microcap Fraudsters
03/02/2015 10:15 AM EST

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has suspended trading in 128 inactive penny stock companies to ensure they don’t become a source for pump-and-dump schemes.

The trading suspensions are the latest in a microcap fraud-fighting initiative known as Operation Shell-Expel in which the SEC Enforcement Division’s Office of Market Intelligence utilizes technology to scour the over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace and identify dormant companies ripe for abuse.  The proactive efforts have prevented fraudsters from having the opportunity to manipulate these thinly-traded stocks by pumping the companies’ stock value through false and misleading promotional campaigns and then dumping the stocks after investors buy in.

Since it began in 2012, Operation Shell-Expel has resulted in trading suspensions of more than 800 microcap stocks, which comprises more than 8 percent of the OTC market.  Once a stock has been suspended from trading, it cannot be relisted unless the company provides updated financial information to prove it’s actually operational.  It’s extremely rare for a company to fulfill this requirement, and the trading suspensions essentially render the shells worthless and useless to scam artists.

“Operation Shell-Expel continues to be an efficient way to combat microcap fraud by denying fraudsters the empty nests they need to hatch their schemes,” Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division.  “We are getting increasingly aggressive and adept at ridding the microcap marketplace of dormant shells within a year of the companies becoming inactive.”

Today’s massive trading suspension identifies dormant shell companies in 24 states and Canada.

The Operation Shell-Expel initiative has been led by William Hankins, Margaret Cain, Robert Bernstein, Victoria Adraktas, LaVerne Patterson, Jessica P. Regan, Leigh Barrett, and John Gibbons in the Office of Market Intelligence with assistance from the Enforcement Division’s Delinquent Filings Group.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI’s Economic Crimes Unit.

Friday, May 18, 2012

SEC SUSPENDS TRADING IN 379 DORMANT COMPANIES


Photo Credit:  Wikipedia
FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C., May 14, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading in the securities of 379 dormant companies before they could be hijacked by fraudsters and used to harm investors through reverse mergers or pump-and-dump schemes. The trading suspension marks the most companies ever suspended in a single day by the agency as it ramps up its crackdown against fraud involving microcap shell companies that are dormant and delinquent in their public disclosures.

Microcap companies typically have limited assets and low-priced stock that trades in low volumes. An initiative tabbed Operation Shell-Expel by the SEC's Microcap Fraud Working Group utilized various agency resources including the enhanced intelligence technology of the Enforcement Division's Office of Market Intelligence to scrutinize microcap stocks in the markets nationwide and identify clearly dormant shell companies in 32 states and six foreign countries that were ripe for potential fraud.

"Empty shell companies are to stock manipulators and pump-and-dump schemers what guns are to bank robbers — the tools by which they ply their illegal trade," said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "This massive trading suspension unmasks these empty shell companies and deprives unscrupulous scam artists of the opportunity to profit at the expense of unsuspecting retail investors."

Thomas Sporkin, Director of the SEC's Office of Market Intelligence, added, "It's critical to assess risks to investors in the capital markets and, through strategic planning, develop ways to neutralize them. We were able to conduct a detailed review of the microcap issuers quoted in the over-the-counter market and cull out these high-risk shell companies."

The SEC's previously largest trading suspension was an order in September 2005 that involved 39 companies. The federal securities laws allow the SEC to suspend trading in any stock for up to 10 business days. Subject to certain exceptions and exemptions, once a company is suspended from trading, it cannot be quoted again until it provides updated information including accurate financial statements.

Pump-and-dump schemes are among the most common types of fraud involving microcap companies. Perpetrators will tout a thinly-traded microcap stock through false and misleading statements about the company to the marketplace. After purchasing low and pumping the stock price higher by creating the appearance of market activity, they dump the stock to make huge profits by selling it into the market at the higher price.

The existence of empty shell companies can be a financial boon to stock manipulators who will pay as much as $750,000 to assume control of the company in order to pump and dump the stock for illegal proceeds to the detriment of investors. But with this trading suspension's obligation to provide updated financial information, these shell companies have been rendered essentially worthless and useless to scam artists.

"This mass trading suspension is an effective and novel way for the SEC to neutralize potential threats to investors," said Chris Ehrman, Co-National Coordinator of the SEC's Microcap Fraud Working Group. "With the ability to leverage staff expertise throughout the agency's offices and divisions, the Working Group is uniquely positioned to take on risk-based matters like these and focus resources where they are needed most." This SEC enforcement effort has been led by Mr. Ehrman, Robert Bernstein, Jessica P. Regan, Leigh Barrett, and Megan Alcorn in the Office of Market Intelligence along with Microcap Fraud Working Group staff from each of the SEC's regional offices: Tanya Beard, David Berman, Sharon Binger, Melissa Buckhalter-Honore, Lisa Cuifolo, Tracy Davis, Elisha Frank, Kurt Gottschall, Lucy Graetz, Jennifer Hieb, C.J. Kerstetter, Victoria Levin, Aaron Lipson, Michael Paley, Farolito Parco, Jonathan Scott, and Lauchlan Wash. The SEC appreciates the assistance and cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Economic Crimes Unit.

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