SEC: 38 Entities Feigned Legitimacy as U.S. Advisers Through False Filings to Lure Retail Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 38 entities alleging that they made material misrepresentations in Forms ADV filed with the Commission between 2025 and 2026 to falsely portray themselves as legitimate advisory firms to U.S. investors. The complaints also allege that the defendants, a number of whom used IP addresses that were tracked to foreign jurisdictions to connect to the Commission’s filing system, failed to respond to requests by Commission counsel to provide records to substantiate information on their Forms ADV. “Our complaints allege large-scale abuse of SEC adviser filings by persons, several of whom are likely located overseas, exploiting interest in emerging technologies,” said Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit.