The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently secured a final consent judgment against Volkswagen Group of America Finance, which the SEC had previously filed securities fraud charges against in 2019 for making materially false and misleading representations relating to its billions in corporate bond offerings in 2014 and 2015.
The SEC enforcement action, brought in March 2019, claimed that during the time period spanning from April 2014 through May 2015, a Volkswagen unit sold in excess of $8 billion in bonds in U.S. domestic markets when its corporate executives knew that approximately half-a-million of its automobiles in the US market significantly surpassed the legal emission standards, which thus potentially exposed the company to significant economic and reputational damage. The SEC complaint further alleged that defendant Volkswagen finance unit misrepresented, through untrue and false representations made to both underwriters and bond investors, matters involving the company’s financial condition, compliance with environmental rules and automobile quality.
In typical SEC settlement fashion, with neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s complaint’s allegations, the Volkswagen defendant agreed to entry of a final federal court judgment that permanently enjoined it from engaging in future antifraud violations of the federal securities laws, to wit: Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Moreover, the final judgment compels payment of disgorgement (the return of ill-gotten gains obtained from the alleged illegal conduct) of $34.35 million, along with $14.4 million in prejudgment interest. After the final judgment was entered, the SEC proceeded to dismiss its remaining claims against parent company, Volkswagen AG and its former Chief Executive Officer. Following the entry of the final judgment, the SEC dismissed its outstanding claims against VWGOAF’s ultimate parent company, Volkswagen AG, and Volkswagen AG’s former CEO, Martin Winterkorn. With these legal actions, the SEC effectively resolved and “cleaned up”, in full, its “dirty” enforcement action against Volkswagen.
Obtaining an SEC Settlement
David Chase, Esq. is a SEC defense attorney who previously worked at the SEC’s Enforcement Division holding the title of Senior Counsel. As a SEC defense lawyer, David represents those who have just received a SEC Subpoena or are currently under SEC investigation throughout the nation, and around the world. David has experience in all SEC cases, including insider trading and market manipulations, and routinely represents cooperators with the SEC. Speak with David on a confidential basis toll-free at: 800-760-0912 or e-mail at: david@davidchaselaw.com, and you can visit David’s law firm’s website for more information and content at: www.securitiesfrauddefense.com.
