SEC Fines 5 Public Companies, Insiders Over Reporting Failures

By Dean Seal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has fined five public companies and six corporate insiders over failures to report information about stock holdings and trading.

The Wall Street regulator said Wednesday that Lattice Semiconductor and SolarEdge Technologies are among the five companies accused of contributing to the filing failures and delinquencies of its officers and directors.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, those companies along with Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, eXp World Holdings and AgEagle Aerial Systems have all agreed to pay civil fines ranging from $115,000 to $200,000.

The SEC has also filed claims against six individuals whose alleged reporting failures, along with those of the five companies, deprived the market of timely information on more than $90 million in transactions, Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

The actions stem from the agency's recent push to enforce rules related to stock ownership by corporate officers, directors and "beneficial owners," or shareholders who own more than 5% of a company's outstanding shares.

The regulator sued Nicole Fernandez-McGovern, the chief financial officer of AgEagle Aerial Systems, over individual reporting failures. Without admitting or denying the findings, she will settle the claims with a $125,000 penalty, according to an SEC order. A representative for AgEagle didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Avery More, a director of SolarEdge Technologies, has reached a similar agreement and will pay an $86,000 fine. SolarEdge didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Representatives for Lattice Semiconductor, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals and eXp World Holdings didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Matthias Heilmann, the former chief executive of Baker Hughes' digital solutions business, is also settling reporting failure claims with a $143,000 fine.

The SEC has also filed civil claims against Joseph Theodore Lukens Jr. as beneficial owner of Workhorse Group, Peixin Xu as director and beneficial owner of Cineverse and Lawrence Rosen as beneficial owner of JAKKs Pacific, FuelCell Energy and other companies. Lukens will settle the allegations with a $120,000 fine while Xu and Rosen will each pay $150,000 penalties.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2023 10:28 ET (14:28 GMT)

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