The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is making dozens of last-minute attempts to enshrine Biden-era financial policy in the financial market. Today the SEC announced seven multi-million dollar charges and settlements aimed at enforcing its strict rules for broker-dealers, investment advisers, and exchanges.
The biggest involved Vanguard, which settled charges for providing misleading statements to its clients regarding capital gains distributions and tax consequences for its Vanguard Investor Target Retirement Funds. The SEC fined the company $106.41 million, which will be paid to customers.
“Firms must ensure that they are accurately describing to investors the potential risks and consequences associated with their investments,” the SEC wrote in a press release.
“Vanguard is committed to supporting the more than 50 million everyday investors and retirement savers who entrust us with their savings. We’re pleased to have reached this settlement and look forward to continuing to serve our investors with world-class investment options,” Vanguard told Fortune in a statement.
Other SEC charges and settlements from January 17 include:
- Wells Fargo Advisors and Merrill Lynch settled charges for failing to adopt and implement investment advising rules and failure to follow cash sweep program rules. Result: $60 million in total civil penalties
- LPL Financial LLC, a broker-dealer and investment adviser, was charged with multiple failures related to the SEC’s anti-money laundering (AML) program. Result: Civil penalty of $18 million and implement improvements to AML policies and procedures
- GrubMarketing, Inc. settled charges for overstating revenues by more than $500 million. Result: Cease-and-desist order and to pay an $8 million civil penalty
- Unregistered firm PMAC Consulting LLC and its owner Paul John McCabe Jr. settled charges for illegally brokering transactions of stock of private companies expected to IPO. Result: $3 million penalty
- A Pennsylvania-based investment adviser Scott J. Mason was charged with misappropriating over $20 million from at least 13 advisory clients. Result: Undecided
- Digital Currency Group Inc. (DCG) and the CEO of its now-defunct subsidiary Genesis Global Capital were charged with misleading investors about the subsidiary’s financial condition. Result: Combined $38.5 million in civil penalties
The SEC also filed a lawsuit earlier this week against Elon Musk for improperly waiting to disclose Twitter stockholdings—which ultimately saved him $150 million at the expense of shareholders.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as the chair of the SEC. Atkins is notably a cryptocurrency advocate, whereas Gensler has cracked down on the cryptocurrency market.
While it is unclear how the SEC will be reshaped until Atkins, the commission is likely to bring regulatory clarity to the crypto market. Trump reportedly has plans to make digital coins a national priority.
Other agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), have similarly rushed in the last months to enshrine Biden-era financial policy and make it harder for a new Trump administration to dismantle it. For example, the CFPB filed lawsuits against companies such as Capital One, Experian, and Equifax for misleading consumers, and the FTC settled with General Motors for the unauthorized selling of customer data.
Fortune reached out to the SEC for further comment but did not receive a response.
