NatWest has admitted to market manipulation to the SEC.
- The fine is not big ($35m), but the many private litigations that will ensue will cost the firm much more…
- What is more relevant is that the SEC extracted a corporate confession.
- Only 2% of the SEC settlements between 2014 and 2017 included such an admission of guilt. (see Wall Street, Companies May Have to Give Up More to Settle With SEC)
- This low number is due to the SEC’s low resources. The agency often have to go to court to extract such a result – an avenue it rarely can afford.
So this settlement may herald a policy reversal and a more aggressive deterrence against corporate malfeasance.
References
- David Rosenfeld, Iowa Law Review, Vol. 103:113: Admissions in SEC Enforcement Cases:
The Revolution That Wasn’t - Navesink International, October 15, 2021: Wall Street, Companies May Have to Give Up More to Settle With SEC
