Dec 13, 2024 - Politics & Policy

SEC charges Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Trump's Commerce Dept nominee

Dan Primack

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Cantor Fitzgerald with lying to SPAC investors, and said that the Wall Street firm had agreed to pay a $6.75 million civil penalty.

Why it matters: Cantor Fitzgerald is led by Howard Lutnick, who was recently nominated by President-elect Trump to lead the U.S. Commerce Department. It's unclear if Trump was aware of the SEC investigation.

Lutnick also was CEO of the two SPACs in question, which allegedly had discussions with merger targets View and Satellogic before going public (which is not allowed and which was not disclosed to investors ahead of the IPOs).
Cantor Fitzgerald did not admit nor deny the SEC's findings.

The bottom line: Pay attention to the dissent of Mark Uyeda, one of the SEC's two Republicans until partisan power flips next month, who argued that the omissions weren't material.

He also dissented when the SEC levied similar charges against Digital World Acquisition Corp., which discussed a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group before its IPO (separate from some insider trading charges tied to that deal).
It's possible that Uyeda's perspective could hold more sway in the GOP-controlled SEC, thus letting more SPACs skirt the rules.

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SEC charges Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Trump's Commerce Dept nominee

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