Litigation Release No. 22477 / September 10, 2012
Securities and Exchange Commission v. ICP Asset Management, LLC, ICP Securities, LLC, Institutional Credit Partners, LLC, Thomas C. Priore, Lori A. Priore, and Bertrand H. Smyers, Civil Action No. 10-CV-4791 (S.D.N.Y.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that New York-based investment advisory firm ICP Asset Management and its founder and president Thomas C. Priore have agreed to settle the agency's charges that they defrauded several collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) they managed.
ICP, Priore, and related entities have agreed to a final judgment ordering them to pay more than $23 million to settle the case the SEC filed against them in June 2010 in federal court in Manhattan. The SEC alleged they engaged in fraudulent practices and misrepresentations that caused the CDOs to overpay for securities and lose millions of dollars. Priore and the ICP companies also improperly obtained fees and undisclosed profits at the expense of the CDOs and their investors.
The court approved the settlement terms on September 6. The final judgment orders Priore to pay disgorgement of $797,337, prejudgment interest of $215,045, and a penalty of $487,618. ICP and its holding company Institutional Credit Partners LLC are ordered, on a joint and several basis, to pay disgorgement of $13,916,005 and prejudgment interest of $3,709,028. ICP also is ordered to pay a penalty of $650,000. An affiliated broker-dealer ICP Securities LLC is ordered to pay disgorgement of $1,637,581, prejudgment interest of $301,893, and a penalty of $1,939,474. Priore also agreed to settle an administrative proceeding against him and be barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, or transfer agent, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock. He has a right to reapply for association or participation after a period of five years.
Priore and the ICP companies also consented, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, to permanent injunctions enjoining them from future violations of the securities laws that they were alleged to have violated, which include Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 15(c)(1)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-3 and 10b-5, and Sections 206(1), (2), (3), and (4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rules 204-2, 206(4)-7 and 206(4)-8.
Finally, the SEC has withdrawn without prejudice its claims for unjust enrichment and fraudulent conveyance against Priore, his wife, Lori Priore, and Bertrand Smyers, in which the Commission had alleged that Priore transferred homes and other assets out of his name shortly after learning that the Commission's staff intended to recommend fraud charges against Priore and his companies.
See Also: Litigation Release Nos. 21563 and 21958