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Global investment bank subsidiaries to settle SEC allegations of mishandled American Depositary Receipts

Securities SEC Settlement American Depositary Receipts

Securities

On July 20, the SEC announced it had reached a settlement with two U.S.-based subsidiaries of a global investment bank to settle allegations that the subsidiaries mishandled the pre-release of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)—U.S. securities that represent shares in foreign companies. According to the SEC’s separately issued orders, the bank’s depository bank subsidiary and the broker-dealer subsidiary allowed pre-released ADRs to be “used for abusive practices, including inappropriate short selling and inappropriate profiting around dividend payouts.” The SEC explained in its press release that ADRs can only be “pre-released” without the deposit of foreign shares, provided the brokers receiving the ADRs have an agreement with a depository bank and the broker or the broker's customer owns an amount of the underlying shares that corresponds to the number of shares the ADR represents. However, the SEC alleged that the depository bank subsidiary improperly provided thousands of ADRs where neither the broker nor its customers possessed the required shares, and that the broker-dealer subsidiary’s policies, procedures and supervision failed to prevent and detect violations tied to the borrowing and lending of pre-released ADRs. While the two subsidiaries neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations, the depository bank has agreed to pay more than $51 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, along with a $22.2 million civil money penalty. The broker-dealer subsidiary has agreed to pay approximately $1.1 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a nearly $500,000 civil money penalty.