SEC intensifies financial crackdowns; Vanguard to pay $100M

The crackdown on financial firms has intensified significantly in recent years, particularly under the leadership of Gary Gensler, the current Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Vanguard, a leading asset management firm, has agreed to pay $100 million in penalties to U.S. regulators. This substantial payment aims to settle charges concerning inadequate disclosures related to its target-date investment funds.

The available data notes that the violation initially began in 2020, when the asset manager reduced the minimum investment requirement for its institutional target date funds.

Finance experts argue this type of sudden change might lead to a sudden change in the sentiment resulting in losses for the investors. The

U.S. SEC notes that Vanguard has failed to properly disclose the potential impact of the investment threshold changes on distributions. 

The press release by the SEC states that “ The order finds that, as a result, retail investors of the Investor TRFs who did not switch and continued to hold their fund shares in taxable accounts faced historically larger capital gains distributions and tax liabilities and were deprived of the potential compounding growth of their investments.”  

It is worth noting that Vanguard has agreed to pay the settlement amount without accepting or denying the finding of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States. Also, the commission has noted that the sum of $106.41 million will be paid to the investors who have faced losses.

Gary’s departure to fuel unethical practices in the U.S. finance ecosystem

The chair of the SEC has been largely criticized for his harsh attitude towards the firms and institutions offering financial services in the United States, and a few published reports in the just-passed year quote that the commission has collected more than $10 billion in penalties from the firms violating rules and regulations of the nation.  

Not only traditional firms but also the companies and firms offering crypto-related services have also faced a skeptical attitude, before in the majority of cases it has been observed that the commission has imposed penalties and restrictions on the companies to protect the residents of the nation from falling victim of bad actors and bogus schemes and projects. 

Over dozens of law experts worldwide have praised the efforts of the commission and its boss Gary but on the other hand some term him a ‘Badman’ for crypto sectors. It is important to note that the wider digital asset market is expecting the departure of Gary from the SEC, with the appointment of a pro-crypto chair.

Crypto market price update 

As of writing the crypto market capitalization was $3.55 trillion with a nominal decline of 0.64 percent, at the same time the trading volume of the market has reached $183.45 billion with a growth of 13.54 percent.  

Bitcoin, the most talked cryptocurrency in the market, added 9.54 percent to its prices in the weekly frame, reaching $103,903. Until publishing its market capitalization was $2.04 trillion adding 1.53 percent intraday and the volume saw a whopping growth of 20.55 percent reaching $70.44 billion. 

According to the data from

CoinMarketCap the intraday gainers have been ruled by Official Trump (TRUMP) which added 119.13 percent reaching $14.31, followed by SPX6900 (SPX) trading at $1.45 with a surge of 32.57 percent.