SEC Examiner Faces Criminal Charges

posted in: Code of Ethics, SEC Examinations | 0

From the Financial Times:

A veteran examiner with the Securities and Exchange Commission faces criminal charges for filing false government ethics forms over his ownership of bank stocks in violation of agency rules.

Steven Gilchrist, a SEC examiner since 1996, was arrested on Tuesday morning on three counts of making false statements to the government. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, if convicted.

Prosecutors allege Mr Gilchrist falsely stated on SEC and government ethics forms that he sold his holdings in Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Ambac and MBIA – stocks that are prohibited under SEC rules – when in fact he transferred them to a new joint account held with his mother.