Category: SEC-2406

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

June 2024 Press Releases

SEC-PR-2024-79

Categories SEC-2406 Unregistered Offerings
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-79SEC-PR-2024-79 (JUN. 28, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-79

SEC Charges Consensys Software for Unregistered Offers and Sales of Securities Through Its MetaMask Staking Service. Company Also Charged for Operating as an Unregistered Broker.

Washington D.C., June 28, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Consensys Software Inc. with engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of securities through a service it calls MetaMask Staking and with operating as an unregistered broker through MetaMask Staking and another service it calls MetaMask Swaps.

According to the SEC’s complaint, since at least January 2023, Consensys has offered and sold tens of thousands of unregistered securities on behalf of liquid staking program providers Lido and Rocket Pool, who create and issue liquid staking tokens (called stETH and rETH) in exchange for staked assets. While staked tokens are generally locked up and cannot be traded or used while they are staked, liquid staking tokens, as the name implies, can be bought and sold freely. Investors in these staking programs provided funds to Lido and Rocket Pool in exchange for the liquid tokens. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Consensys engages in the unregistered offer and sale of securities by participating in the distribution of the staking programs and operates as an unregistered broker with respect to these transactions.

“By allegedly collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in fees as an unregistered broker and engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of tens of thousands of securities, Consensys inserted itself squarely into the U.S. securities markets while depriving investors of the protections afforded by the federal securities laws,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “As this enforcement action shows, we continue to hold noncompliant actors in this space accountable, as we do across the securities market.”

The SEC further alleges that, since at least October 2020, Consensys has brokered transactions in crypto asset securities by, for example, soliciting investors to trade crypto asset securities, providing pricing and other investment information regarding crypto asset securities, purporting to provide investors with the “best” quote, accepting and routing customer orders, facilitating order execution, handling customer assets, and receiving transaction-based compensation.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in the Eastern District of New York, charges Consensys with violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and seeks injunctive relief and penalties.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Daphna Waxman, Amy Mayer, and Abigail Cooper and supervised by Mark R. Sylvester, Kristin Pauley, and Jorge G. Tenreiro, all of the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Samuel Wasserman under the supervision of Jack Kaufman and Mr. Tenreiro.

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SEC-PR-2024-78

Categories SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-78SEC-PR-2024-78 (JUN. 27, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-78

SEC Office of the Investor Advocate Delivers Report to Congress on Objectives for Fiscal Year 2025

Washington D.C., June 27, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Investor Advocate ⊗ today delivered its Report to Congress ⊗ (PDF) on the Office’s objectives for fiscal year 2025.

As detailed in the Report, the Investor Advocate’s priorities for fiscal year 2025 include: 

  • Assisting investors victimized by fraud and monitoring the measurable surge in investment fraud schemes;
  • Enhancing Ombuds services to resolve questions, complaints, and concerns about the SEC and self-regulatory organizations (SROs) subject to SEC oversight;
  • Evaluating ways in which broker and adviser standards of conduct might be impacted by technological changes in the market;
  • Exploring means to increase transparency in and maintain investor access to the private markets;
  • Encouraging innovative and effective disclosure through investor testing of existing and proposed disclosures, especially those associated with complex products and private markets;
  • Increasing investor engagement and input on matters of significance to retail investors.

“This report reaffirms our commitment to identify and address the unique challenges faced by retail investors, advocate for transparency, mitigate fraud schemes, and support the interests of all investors,” said Cristina Martin Firvida, the SEC’s Investor Advocate.

The Office of the Investor Advocate is an independent office that was established by Congress to: assist retail investors in resolving problems with the Commission and SROs; identify areas where investors would benefit from changes in SEC and SRO rules and regulations; identify investor problems with financial service providers and investment products; analyze potential impact on investors of proposed regulations and rules of the SEC and SROs; and propose regulatory or legislative changes to the Commission and to Congress that might mitigate investor problems and promote investor interests.

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SEC-PR-2024-77

Categories Manipulative Trading Mergers & Acquisitions SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-77SEC-PR-2024-77 (JUN. 25, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-77

SEC Charges Meta Materials and Former CEOs With Market Manipulation, Fraud and Other Violations

Washington D.C., June 25, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Meta Materials Inc. and its former CEOs, John Brda and George Palikaras. The company has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges in an administrative proceeding, while the SEC’s litigation against Brda and Palikaras will proceed in federal district court.

The SEC’s complaint against Brda and Palikaras alleges that, as a result of a concerted market manipulation scheme, Meta Materials, a Nevada corporation headquartered in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, raised $137.5 million from investors in an at-the-market (ATM) offering in June 2021 immediately prior to the merger of Brda’s Torchlight Energy Resources Inc. and Palikaras’ Metamaterial Inc. that formed Meta Materials.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Brda and Palikaras planned and conducted the manipulative scheme that included, among other things, issuing a preferred stock dividend immediately before the merger. The complaint alleges that Brda and Palikaras told certain investors and consultants—and hinted via social media—that the dividend would force short sellers to exit their positions and trigger a “short squeeze” that would artificially raise the price of the company’s common stock. The SEC further alleges that Brda and Palikaras also misrepresented the company’s efforts to sell its oil and gas assets and distribute proceeds to preferred stockholders, giving investors a false impression of the value of the dividend. While investors held or bought the company’s common stock to receive the dividend, the complaint alleges, the company was cashing in by selling $137.5 million in an ATM offering at prices that the company, Brda, and Palikaras knew were temporarily inflated by their manipulative scheme. “We have two days,” the complaint alleges Brda told Palikaras after the first day of the ATM offering, “to take advantage of the squeeze…”

“The conduct we allege was a sophisticated, yet brazen plan by a public company and its former CEOs to purposely mislead investors in the company’s stock,” said Eric Werner, Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office. “This conduct is particularly alarming because it involves public company CEOs who were more concerned with ‘burning the shorts’ than creating long-term value for shareholders.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Brda and Palikaras with violating the antifraud and proxy disclosure provisions of the federal securities laws, and charges Brda with aiding and abetting Meta Materials’s violations of the reporting, internal accounting controls, and books and records provisions. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, officer-and-director bars, and civil penalties from both defendants. The complaint also seeks disgorgement with pre-judgment interest from Brda.

The SEC also instituted a separate administrative proceeding against Meta Materials, entering a settled order finding that Meta Materials violated the antifraud, reporting, internal accounting controls, and books and records provisions of the federal securities laws. Without admitting or denying the findings, Meta Materials was ordered to cease and desist from violations of the relevant provisions of the federal securities laws and to pay a $1,000,000 penalty.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Christopher Rogers and Ty Martinez of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office under the supervision of Samantha Martin, B. David Fraser, and Mr. Werner. The SEC’s litigation against Brda and Palikaras will be conducted by Patrick Disbennett and supervised by Keefe Bernstein.

A separate Commission investigation regarding subsequent events related to Meta Materials (MMTLP) remains ongoing. If you are an individual with information related to this investigation or any other related suspected fraud and you wish to contact the SEC staff, please submit a tip at https://www.sec.gov/tcr.

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SEC-PR-2024-76

SEC-2406 Unregistered Entities

SEC-PR-2024-76

Securities and Exchange Commission Updates List of Firms Using Inaccurate Information to Solicit Investors

SEC News Release - SEC-PR-2024-76

SEC-PR-2024-76

Date: Jun. 18, 2024

Date Accessed: Aug.1, 2024

Source URL: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-76

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SEC-PR-2024-76

SEC-PR-2024-75

Categories Cybersecurity-Related Controls SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-75SEC-PR-2024-75 (JUN. 18, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-75

SEC Charges R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. with Cybersecurity-Related Controls Violations

Washington D.C., June 18, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD), a global provider of business communication and marketing services, agreed to pay over $2.1 million to settle disclosure and internal control failure charges relating to cybersecurity incidents and alerts in late 2021.

“The Commission instituted this enforcement action because RRD’s controls for elevating cybersecurity incidents to its management and protecting company assets from cyberattacks were insufficient,” said Jorge G. Tenreiro, Acting Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. “RRD did, however, cooperate with our investigation in a meaningful way, and that is reflected in the terms of this settlement.”

According to the SEC’s order, data integrity and confidentiality were critically important to RRD’s business. Because client data was stored on RRD’s network, its information security personnel and the third-party service provider RRD hired were responsible for monitoring the network’s security. However, according to the order, RRD failed to design effective disclosure controls and procedures to report relevant cybersecurity information to management with the responsibility for making disclosure decisions, and failed to carefully assess and respond to alerts of unusual activity in a timely manner. The order further finds that RRD failed to devise and maintain a system of cybersecurity-related internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that access to RRD’s assets – its information technology systems and networks – was permitted only with management’s authorization.

The SEC’s order found that RRD violated Section 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rule 13a-15a. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, RRD agreed to cease and desist from committing violations of these provisions and to pay a $2,125,000 civil penalty. As described in the order, RRD cooperated throughout the investigation, including by reporting the cybersecurity incident to staff prior to filing a disclosure of the incident, by providing meaningful cooperation that helped expedite the staff’s investigation, and by voluntarily adopting new cybersecurity technology and controls.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Arsen Ablaev of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and Christine S. Bautista of the Chicago Regional Office, with assistance from Kathleen Sweeney and Christopher Carpenter, and was supervised by Amy Flaherty Hartman and Mr. Tenreiro of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.

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SEC-PR-2024-74

Categories Investor Education SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-74SEC-PR-2024-74 (JUN. 17, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-74

SEC’s New Public Service Campaign Emphasizes Investor Protection

Washington D.C., June 17, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) today unveiled its new public service campaign, which highlights investor protection and encourages investors to explore the free tools and resources on Investor.gov.

The campaign, “Is This Right?” takes a multi-generational knowledge-sharing approach to educating investors. It features two TV spots and resources pages in both English ⊗ and Spanish ⊗ focusing on fraud protection, including the importance of investors monitoring their investment accounts, conducting a background check on investment professionals, and avoiding unsolicited investment pitches that could be scams.

“Informed investors are better investors,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “With this public campaign, Americans can learn more about how to meet their financial goals and invest for a strong financial future. I encourage everyone to take advantage of our resources on Investor.gov.”

“This year’s public service campaign shows that although different generations may have various kinds of knowledge when it comes to investing and recognizing scams, they can each learn from one another,” said Lori Schock, Director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. “Sharing knowledge and having a conversation with your family members can make talking about finances more comfortable and can also encourage younger members to become interested in saving and investing at an early age.”

Nearly 70 million new users have accessed Investor.gov since it launched in October 2009, and thousands of investors test their investing knowledge by taking a new quiz published each month. This month’s quiz, available here ⊗, highlights messaging from the new campaign focused on investor protection.

TV Spots

Mother/Husband/Daughter/Granddaughter [English ⊗ (video), Spanish ⊗ (video)] ‒ Highlights the importance of being suspicious of unsolicited investment pitches, making sure you’re dealing with a registered investment professional, and monitoring your investment accounts.

A mother, her daughter and teenage granddaughter sit at a kitchen island looking at their personal devices, with the mother’s husband nearby. The mother shows her daughter an email about an influencer pitching a “once in a lifetime” investment and asks, “Does this look right?” The daughter says it seems suspicious and that she should check Investor.gov to see if they are registered. As the daughter checks her retirement statement, she notices a “weird fee” and asks her mother, “Does this look right?” The mother is glad her daughter is monitoring her accounts and says she should call and check it out. The spot also gives the teenager an introduction into discussing these kinds of important investing topics.

Father/Son/Aunt [English ⊗ (video), Spanish ⊗ (video)] ‒ Stresses the importance of conducting a background check on an investment professional and spotting and avoiding scams.

A son is on his cell phone holding an infant and his father is on a laptop sitting in a living room. The son sees a message on his phone from an “investment guy” who’s promising 15 percent return with zero risk. He asks his father, “Does this seem right?” The father tells him it sounds too good to be true, to ignore the message, and to conduct a background check on anyone offering zero risk. The father sees a random message from his investment firm asking him to wire money, and asks his son, “Does this seem right?” The son responds by saying they wouldn’t do that and tells his father it sounds like a scam. An aunt is sitting nearby witnessing the exchange.

Both TV spots end with a bit of humor and the message: “No matter your age, we can all learn something about investing. Explore our resources at https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/spotlight/never-stop-learning.”

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SEC-PR-2024-73

Categories Crypto Investment Fraud SEC-2406
SEC-PR-2024-73 (JUN. 13, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-73

Terraform and Kwon to Pay $4.5 Billion Following Fraud Verdict. Kwon to contribute more than $200 million, Terraform to wind down, and assets to be distributed to investor victims and creditors in bankruptcy.

Washington D.C., June 13, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Terraform Labs PTE, Ltd. and Do Kwon agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion following a unanimous jury verdict holding them liable for orchestrating a years-long fraud involving crypto asset securities that led to massive investor losses when the scheme unraveled.

A nine-day jury trial in April exposed the extent of the defendants’ lies to victims about the false use of the Terraform blockchain to settle transactions and about the stability of their crypto asset security, UST. The SEC also offered evidence at trial showing that, in May 2022, after UST de-pegged from the U.S. dollar, the price of UST and Terraform’s other tokens plummeted to close to zero. This wiped out $40 billion in market value nearly overnight and caused devastating losses to countless investors, including numerous retail investors who believed defendants’ lies and poured their life savings into Terraform’s ecosystem.

“This case affirms what court after court has said: The economic realities of a product—not the labels, the spin, or the hype—determine whether it is a security under the securities laws,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “Terraform and Do Kwon’s fraudulent activities caused devastating losses for investors, in some cases wiping out entire life savings. Their fraud serves as a reminder that, when firms fail to comply with the law, investors get hurt. Terraform and Kwon fought our efforts to investigate – taking a fight over investigative subpoenas all the way to the Supreme Court. Thankfully, with this settlement, the victims of their massive fraud will now get some justice.”

“Do Kwon and Terra orchestrated one of the largest securities frauds in U.S. history by, among other things, falsely claiming that they had achieved the Holy Grail of crypto: a non-illicit use case. As the jury found, that was a lie, as was their claim of creating an ‘algorithmic stablecoin.’ In the end, all they succeeded in doing was lying to investors, wiping out tens of billions of dollars in market value, and creating a trail of victims,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Today’s multi-billion dollar settlement not only holds them accountable and prioritizes the return of hundreds of millions of dollars to harmed investors, but also makes clear that, despite the vast resources that crypto asset defendants deploy against us, the dedicated staff of the Division of Enforcement will not stop until they achieve justice for the victims of these breathtaking frauds.”

The SEC charged Terraform and Kwon in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 16, 2023, with securities fraud and for offering and selling securities in unregistered transactions. On December 28, 2023, the District Court found Terraform and Kwon liable for offering and selling crypto asset securities in unregistered transactions. On January 21, 2024, Terraform filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. On April 5, 2024, a jury unanimously found Terraform and Kwon liable for securities fraud after less than two hours of deliberation.

As part of the settlement, Terraform agreed to pay $3,586,875,883 in disgorgement, $466,952,423 in prejudgment interest, and a $420,000,000 civil penalty. Terraform also agreed to stop selling its crypto asset securities, wind down its operations, replace two of its directors, and distribute its remaining assets to investor victims and creditors through a liquidation plan, subject to approval by the court in Terraform’s pending bankruptcy case.

Kwon agreed to pay $110,000,000 in disgorgement and $14,320,196 in prejudgment interest on a joint and several basis with Terraform, as well as an $80,000,000 civil penalty.

In addition, the defendants consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining them from violating the registration and fraud provisions they violated.

The litigation is being handled by Devon Staren, Laura Meehan, Christopher Carney, and Carina Cuellar from the Trial Unit, as well as Roger Landsman, and supervised by James Connor and Jorge Tenreiro. The SEC is represented in Terraform’s bankruptcy case by Therese Scheuer, Michael Kelly, and William Uptegrove, with supervision by Alistaire Bambach. The investigation was conducted by Mr. Landsman, Elisabeth Goot, Kathleen Hitchins, James Murtha, Daniel Koster, Donald Battle, and David Crosbie and was supervised by Reid Muoio, Osman Nawaz, Mr. Tenreiro, and David Hirsch from the Complex Financial Instruments and Crypto Assets and Cyber Units.

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SEC-PR-2024-72

Categories Investment Advisers Investment Fraud Making False Statements Misleading Investors SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-72SEC-PR-2024-72 (JUN. 12, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-72

SEC Charges JAG Capital Advisors and its Founder Joshua Goltry with Defrauding Investors

Washington D.C., June 12, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Joshua Goltry and his investment management firm, JAG Capital Advisors LLC (JAG Advisors), in connection with a three-year scheme to defraud investors of at least $3 million.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from 2020 to 2023, Goltry, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of a purported equity fund called JAG Cap, LLC, and JAG Advisors, the purported equity fund’s investment manager, raised at least $3 million from approximately nine investors by lying about nearly every aspect of the fund, including its performance, investment activity, and investment risks. Goltry is the principal of JAG Advisors. As alleged, of the funds raised, Goltry and JAG Advisors used at least $1.1 million on personal expenses, including travel and jewelry, and lost more than $1.7 million through high-risk trading and speculative investments. The complaint further alleges that Goltry and JAG Advisors falsified documents, including expense invoices, to conceal the trading losses from investors.   

“As alleged in the complaint, Goltry and JAG Advisors repeatedly lied to investors to lure them into investing in the JAG Fund and then lost their money or stole it to pay for lavish personal expenses,” said Nicholas P. Grippo, Regional Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office. “We will continue to diligently hold accountable those who exploit investors’ trust for personal gain.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Goltry and JAG Advisors with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Goltry and JAG Advisors agreed to settle the charges against them. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, would permanently enjoin Goltry and JAG Advisors from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and allows the court to decide the amounts of disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties at a later date. 

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Goltry.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Suzanne C. Abt and Michael Cuff and supervised by Julia C. Green, Scott A. Thompson, and Mr. Grippo, all of the Philadelphia Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Judson T. Mihok and supervised by Gregory R. Bockin.   

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SEC-PR-2024-70

Artificial Intelligence Categories Making False Statements Misleading Investors SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-70SEC-PR-2024-70 (JUN. 11, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-70

Securities and Exchange Commission Charges Founder of AI Hiring Startup Joonko with Fraud

Washington D.C., June 11, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Ilit Raz, CEO and founder of the now-shuttered artificial intelligence recruitment startup Joonko, with defrauding investors of at least $21 million by making false and misleading statements about the quantity and quality of Joonko’s customers, the number of candidates on its platform, and the company’s revenue.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Joonko claimed to use artificial intelligence to help clients find diverse and underrepresented candidates to fulfill their diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring goals. To raise money for Joonko, the complaint alleges that Raz falsely told investors that Joonko had more than 100 customers, including Fortune 500 companies, and provided investors with fabricated testimonials from several companies expressing their appreciation for Joonko and praising its effectiveness. Raz also allegedly lied to investors that Joonko had earned more than $1 million in revenue and was working with more than 100,000 active job candidates. When an investor grew suspicious of Raz’s claims, Raz allegedly provided the investor with falsified bank statements and forged contracts in an effort to conceal the fraud. According to the complaint, the scheme unraveled in mid-2023 when the investor confronted Raz, who admitted to forging bank statements and contracts and lying about Joonko’s revenue and number of customers.

“We allege that Raz engaged in an old school fraud using new school buzzwords like ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘automation,’” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “As more and more people seek out AI-related investment opportunities, we will continue to police the markets against AI-washing and the type of misconduct alleged in today’s complaint. But at the same time, it is critical for investors to beware of companies exploiting the fanfare around artificial intelligence to raise funds.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Raz with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks a permanent injunction, civil money penalties, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and an officer-and-director bar against Raz.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Raz.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Alicia Guo, Ariel Atlas, Neil Hendelman, and Lindsay S. Moilanen and was supervised by Sheldon L. Pollock of the New York Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Ms. Guo and Ms. Atlas, and supervised by Daniel Loss and Mr. Pollock. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

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  • SEC Complaint ⊗ (PDF)

SEC-PR-2024-71

Categories SEC-2406
SEC NEWS - SEC-PR-2024-71SEC-PR-2024-71 (JUN. 11, 2024)
PRESS RELEASE | 2024-71

Securities and Exchange Commission Appoints Erica Y. Williams to a Second Term as PCAOB Chairperson

Washington D.C., June 11, 2024 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointment of Erica Y. Williams to a second term as Chairperson of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) beginning on Oct. 25, 2024, and running through Oct. 24, 2029.

“I thank Erica for her leadership and am pleased that she will continue to serve as Chairperson of the PCAOB,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “I also thank the PCAOB staff and the Board for their diligent work to ensure that public company financial disclosures can be trusted by investors.”

SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter added, “I look forward to continuing to work with Chairperson Williams to further the PCAOB’s long-overdue plan to modernize standards and improve audit quality to promote investor protection.”

“I am honored to have Chair Gensler and the Commission’s confidence and grateful for the opportunity to continue working alongside my fellow Board Members and the talented and dedicated PCAOB staff to protect investors,” said Chair Williams. “I’m proud of our work together and eager to continue executing our mission on behalf of investors who depend on U.S. capital markets to build their American dream.”

Prior to joining the PCAOB in January 2022, Erica Y. Williams was a litigation partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She previously spent more than a decade in various roles at the SEC, including as Deputy Chief of Staff to three former SEC Chairs and Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement trial unit. After leaving the SEC, Ms. Williams served as Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama with a focus on financial and economic policy issues. Ms. Williams earned both a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established the PCAOB to oversee the audits of public companies and registered broker-dealers through registration, standard-setting, inspection, and disciplinary programs. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Board is subject to SEC oversight, including the selection of members of the Board.

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