^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

Anonymous Tip Leads to SEC Enforcement Action and $10 Million Penalty
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced last week that it had settled an enforcement action against Banc of America Securities LLC (BAS) for violations of record keeping and access requirements of the securities laws. The violations occurred during a pending Commission investigation of BAS begun after the SEC received an anonymous insider's tip over two years ago.

The SEC stated that it had received the informant's letter in 2001 and that the letter alleged that senior managers at BAS may have caused the firm to buy or sell securities that it knew would be the subject of the research reports. As part of last week's settlement, BAS agreed to a censure and a $10 million civil penalty for the company's failure to cooperate in the investigation.