South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
In the Matter of Angelica Aguilera:
August, 2012:
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the issuance of an Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Order) against Angelica Aguilera. The Division of Enforcement (Division) alleges that Aguilera, former President of LatAm Investments, LLC, failed reasonably to supervise former registered representatives Fabrizio Neves and Jose Luna, who violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and aided and abetted LatAm’s violations of Section 15(c) of the Exchange Act. The Division alleges that from at least November 2006 to September 2009, Neves and Luna engaged in a fraudulent markup and markdown scheme to defraud certain customers of LatAm Investments, LLC (LatAm) in the offer, purchase and sale of structured notes.
The Division further alleges that Aguilera, who was Neves and Luna’s direct supervisor, failed to effectively follow or implement LatAm’s supervisory policies and procedures to ensure the fairness of markups and markdowns charged by Neves and Luna to LatAm’s customers. The Division also alleges, among other things, that Aguilera delegated compliance responsibility for reviewing markups and commissions to the firm’s chief compliance officer, an individual who lacked the authority and ability to take meaningful action to address excessive markups and markdowns charged to LatAm’s customers by Neves and Luna. As a result, Neves and Luna were able to carry out the fraudulent markup scheme undetected.
A hearing before an administrative law judge will be scheduled to determine whether the allegations in the Order are true, to provide Aguilera an opportunity to respond to these allegations, and to determine what, if any, remedial action is appropriate in the public interest. The Order directed the Administrative Law Judge to issue an initial decision within 300 days from the date of service of the Order. (Rel. 34-67748; File No. 3-14999).
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