Section 17

SEC Announces Settlement with State Street – and a Suit Against a Big Law Partner – for Pay-to-Play Scheme

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Gavel and Hundred-Dollar Bill

On January 14, 2016, the SEC entered into two no-admit, no deny settlements regarding an alleged pay-to-play scheme to obtain contracts from the Treasury Office for the State of Ohio.  The first was with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street” or “the Bank”) – a custodian bank that provides asset servicing to institutional clients, and  the second with Vincent DeBaggis, a former State Street executive.  On the same day, the SEC filed suit against attorney Robert Crowe for his role in the scheme which allegedly involved causing concealed campaign contributions to be made to the Ohio Treasury Office to influence the awarding of contracts to State Street.  Mr. Crowe is a partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and a former lobbyist for the Bank.

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The SEC Scores Another Admission: Scottrade Acknowledges That It Broke Recordkeeping Rules

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Last week, Scottrade Inc. became the latest entity to admit wrongdoing in connection with settling SEC charges.  In a January 29, 2014 administrative order, the brokerage firm not only agreed  to a $2.5 million penalty, but also admitted that it violated federal securities laws when it failed to provide the SEC with complete and accurate “ blue sheet” trading data.  This settlement marks the fourth such admission since the Commission’s June 2013 modification to its “no admit/no deny” settlement policy.

Most civil law enforcement agencies – including the SEC –  generally do not require entities or individuals to admit or deny wrongdoing in order to reach a settlement.  The SEC regularly utilizes this “no admit/no deny” policy, finding it an effective tool to facilitate settlements.  In June 2013, however, the Commission announced a revision to this longstanding policy, indicating that it would require public admissions of wrongdoing in selected cases, including those involving “egregious” fraud or intentional misconduct, as well as those involving significant investor impact or that are otherwise highly visible.  Since then, the Commission has obtained admissions in three previous settlements. READ MORE →