SEC charges 38 entities over false adviser filings
The SEC says the filings were used to mislead retail investors by creating the appearance of registered advisory firms.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it charged 38 entities in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado over alleged false or unsupported statements in Form ADV filings made between 2025 and 2026.
The agency said the filings were used to make the entities appear to be legitimate U.S. advisory firms and attract retail investors. It said Form ADV filings are part of the public record and can affect how investors judge whether a firm is real and registered.
According to the SEC, some defendants used IP addresses tracked to foreign jurisdictions to access the filing system and did not respond to SEC counsel requests for records supporting the information in the forms. The agency also said some filings listed Colorado business addresses where the entities had no presence, used disconnected or unrelated phone numbers, repeated ownership structures and numerical data across multiple purported exempt reporting advisers, and claimed private fund audits by two independent public accounting firms that could not be found in public registries.
The SEC said some of the entities were promoted on websites that displayed fake certificates claiming SEC registration. The complaints charge violations of Sections 204(a) and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
The agency is seeking permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions barring the defendants from filing Forms ADV as exempt reporting advisers, and civil penalties. The SEC said its Office of Investor Education and Assistance issued an investor alert warning that scammers are using SEC ERA filings to create a false impression of legitimacy.
The SEC said the ERA filings for the 38 entities have been removed from the Commission website. It also thanked the FBI and Operation Level Up for assistance.
In the press release, Laura D’Allaird said the complaints allege large-scale abuse of SEC adviser filings by persons, several of whom are likely located overseas, exploiting interest in emerging technologies. She said the SEC will act decisively to disrupt fraudulent SEC filings used to feign legitimacy with retail investors.
What happens next will depend on the court cases in Colorado. The SEC’s requested injunctions and civil penalties would be decided through the litigation process.
Sources
Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.
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