Matthew Nicosia, William Reininger, Fabrizio Di Carlo, and Ronald Touchard

On April 10, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware entered a final consent judgment against William B. North, the former Chief Credit Officer of Wilmington Trust.

In 2015, the SEC charged North and three other former Wilmington Trust officers with fraud for their roles in Wilmington Trust making false or misleading public statements and omissions regarding its loan portfolio, including its underreporting, by hundreds of millions of dollars, its real estate loans which were 90 days or more past due. The SEC's complaint further alleged that North violated and/or aided and abetted violations of the federal securities laws in connection with false and misleading statements concerning the credit quality of certain of Wilmington Trust's loans.

Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, North consented to the entry of a judgment that enjoins him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 13b2-1 thereunder, and further enjoins him from aiding and abetting future violations of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1, 13a-11 and 13a-13 thereunder. The judgment further orders North to pay a civil penalty of $10,000. The settlement resolves the SEC's case against North, and concludes this litigation.

The SEC's litigation was led by Jack Kaufman, Margaret Spillane and Alison Conn, and was supervised by Thomas P. Smith, Jr. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Ms. Spillane and James Addison and was supervised by Mr. Smith.

For further information, see Press Release 2014-192 (Sept. 11, 2014), Press Release 2015-81 (May 6, 2015), Litigation Release No. 24616, and Litigation Release No. 25568.