SEC Charges New Jersey-Based ETF Manager for Fraudulent Conduct and Bars Founder

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Samuel Masucci and entities he founded and controls with disadvantaging an exchange traded fund (ETF) they managed and misleading the ETF’s trustees to obtain $20 million in rescue financing to avoid a possible bankruptcy. Masucci and the entities agreed to pay a combined $4.4 million to settle the charges. The SEC’s order finds that, in 2019, in exchange for $20 million in financing and other services, Masucci agreed to keep the ETF’s lucrative securities-lending business at the broker-dealer that provided the massive influx of financing despite offers with better terms from other securities lenders that could have benefited investors.