SEC charges 38 entities for false adviser filings, removes their ERA entries
The action binds the 38 charged firms, barring them from filing Forms ADV as exempt reporting advisers effective immediately.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 38 entities for making material misrepresentations in Forms ADV filed between 2025 and 2026 and ordered the removal of those entities' exempt reporting adviser (ERA) filings from the Commission's website.
According to the complaints, the defendants listed Colorado addresses where they had no presence, provided disconnected phone numbers or numbers belonging to unrelated businesses, and disclosed ownership structures and numerical data that duplicated those of numerous other purported ERAs. The filings also claimed that private-fund financial statements had been audited by one of two independent public accounting firms that cannot be found in any public registry, and some websites displayed a fabricated certificate purporting SEC registration. The complaints note that several defendants accessed the filing system from IP addresses traced to foreign jurisdictions and failed to respond to SEC counsel's requests for supporting records.
The complaints, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, allege violations of Sections 204(a) and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions prohibiting future ERA filings, and civil penalties.
The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Assistance has issued an investor alert warning that scammers are using fraudulent ERA filings to create a false impression of legitimacy and to lure retail investors. The alert advises investors to be wary of any purported ERA that offers investment advice directly to individual investors or claims SEC registration. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI and its Operation Level Up.
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