The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease-and-desist order against the Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) and its authorized participant SecondMarket, the latter of which has been ordered to disgorge roughly $50,000 in a settlement with the agency.
Originally founded by investor and Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert when he was CEO of SecondMarket, the BIT issues shares with a value tied to the value bitcoin, and unrestricted shares of the BIT are quoted on OTCQX. Newly issued shares are restricted and cannot be quoted on OTCQX.
Specifically, the cease-and-desist order relates to a share redemption program conducted in 2014. According to disclosures published last year by Genesis Trading, the former trading desk at SecondMarket, the program drew the attention of SEC regulators because the repurchases took place as shares were being created by the trust – in violation of Regulation M, the SEC said in its release today.
As part of its redemption program, SecondMarket repurchased 85,721 shares between 2nd April and 4th September, 2014, the SEC said, earning $51,650.11.
From the SEC : "The SEC’s Rule 101 of Regulation M prohibits distribution participants and their affiliated purchasers from purchasing any security that is the subject of a distribution until after the applicable restricted period. Rule 102 prohibits the same activity by issuers, selling security holders, and their affiliated purchasers." The SEC contacted SecondMarket later that month, documents show, and the redemption program was shut down in late October.
The agency noted in its cease-and-desist that SecondMarket relied on outside legal advice prior to the launch of the redemption program, and that this factored into the agency’s decision.
According to the cease-and-desist notice, SecondMarket and the BIT have agreed to abstain from further SEC violations, and SecondMarket will pay the $51,650.11 it earned plus roughly $2,100 in interest.
When reached for […]
