The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought an enforcement action against broker-dealer, Virtu Americas LLC, alleging that it failed to properly guard against information leakage between its institutional trading business and prop trading arm.The SEC charged the firm and its parent company, Virtu Financial Inc., for overstating the controls that were erected to prevent the misuse of sensitive customer data. It said proprietary traders had access to an internal database that contained post-trade information generated by client orders between January 2018 and early 2019.

In a release, Virtu said it rejects the regulator’s allegations, saying the hypothetical possibility that client information was widely accessible does not mean the company’s policies and controls to protect sensitive information were “unreasonable.” The SEC’s complaint, seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Here is the SEC Complaint https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-176.pdf

JEFFREY NEWMAN IS A WHISTLEBLOWER WHO HANDLES CLAIMS UNDER THE SEC WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM AS WELL AS HEALTHCARE FRAUD MATTERS UNDER THE FALSE CLAIMS ACT. HE CAN BE REACHED AT JEFF@JEFFNEWMANLAW.COM OR AT 617-823-3217