Virtu Financial Provides an Update on Ongoing SEC Matter
12 Setembro 2023 - 6:29PM
Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT), a leading provider of global,
multi-asset financial services that delivers liquidity and
innovative, transparent products across the complete investment
cycle to the global markets, today provided supplemental
information regarding a previously disclosed SEC enforcement
matter.
As described in recent public filings, Virtu has responded to
requests for information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) in connection with an investigation of aspects of
its internal information barriers from January 2018 to April 2019,
a period that predates Virtu’s integration of post-trade data from
Investment Technology Group Inc. (ITG), and has engaged in
discussions to settle the matter. As an update, Virtu has been
unable to reach an acceptable settlement and today the SEC
initiated a civil lawsuit against Virtu.
SEC lawsuit focuses on hypothetical internal access to
data – but importantly does not allege actual inappropriate access
or use
The SEC’s complaint alleges that (i) Virtu’s policies and
procedures were not reasonably designed during the period to
prevent the internal misuse of material nonpublic information and
(ii) that certain of Virtu's statements made concerning these
policies and procedures were false.
Significantly, the SEC does not allege, and there is no evidence
to indicate, that any data was ever accessed or used in an
inappropriate manner.
Virtu has continuously maintained reasonable policies,
procedures and controls to protect data
Virtu rejects the SEC’s allegations and underlying theory that
the temporary hypothetical possibility of access by a broader group
of Virtu employees rendered its policies and procedures
“unreasonable”. Virtu has continuously maintained policies and
procedures that were and are reasonably designed to prevent the
misuse of confidential information — consistent with its
obligations under applicable laws — and public statements made
regarding its policies and procedures were true and accurate.
Hypothetical accessibility was self-identified and
controls were enhanced consistent with Virtu’s policies – details
of the enhancement were voluntarily disclosed in an SEC
exam
In a routine SEC exam in 2019, Virtu voluntarily disclosed to
SEC staff that for a limited period during 2018 and early 2019,
certain post-trade data in its back-office database was
hypothetically accessible to a broader group of employees than
intended. The period coincided with the migration of Virtu’s then
recently acquired KCG business to a consolidated Virtu back-office
database, and predated Virtu’s migration of data related to the ITG
business to the database. During this time, other controls and
policies mitigated the risk of unauthorized access or use, and the
firm developed and ultimately implemented controls enhancements to
further restrict database access in accordance with its policies.
Following the exam’s conclusion, the SEC Enforcement Staff
initiated an investigation with which Virtu has fully cooperated,
supplying more than 30,000 documents over a three-year period, none
of which indicate any improper use or access.
SEC posture and action follows Virtu’s public criticism
of rule proposals
Notably, the SEC’s escalation of its years-long investigation
follows Virtu’s public criticism of SEC market structure rule
proposals released in December 2022 and Virtu’s lawsuit against the
SEC to seek records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
related to the rulemaking process.
“We are disappointed by the SEC’s decision to bring this action.
Despite our belief that these allegations are meritless, we engaged
in good faith settlement discussions with the SEC to bring this
matter to a reasonable resolution,” said Virtu’s Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Douglas A. Cifu.
“Unfortunately, the SEC’s position appears to be driven by
politics and headlines rather than the facts and the law. We will
always seek to act rationally and manage risk and exposure
responsibly on behalf of our firm and our investors. Therefore,
under these circumstances, we look forward to vigorously defending
ourselves in court against these meritless allegations while
maintaining our focus on serving clients and markets globally and
creating long-term value for our shareholders.”
About Virtu Financial, Inc.Virtu is a leading
provider of financial services and products that leverages
cutting-edge technology to deliver liquidity to the global markets
and innovative, transparent trading solutions to its clients.
Leveraging its global market making expertise and infrastructure,
Virtu provides a robust product suite including offerings in
execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral,
multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology. Virtu’s product
offerings allow clients to trade on hundreds of venues across 50+
countries and in multiple asset classes, including global equities,
ETFs, foreign exchange, futures, fixed income, cryptocurrency and
myriad other commodities. In addition, Virtu’s integrated,
multi-asset analytics platform provides a range of pre-, intra- and
post-trade services, data products and compliance tools that
clients rely upon to invest, trade and manage risk across global
markets.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release may contain “forward-looking
statements” made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements
regarding Virtu Financial, Inc.’s (“Virtu’s”, the “Company’s” or
“our”) business that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a
guarantee of future performance or results, and will not
necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which,
such performance or results will be achieved. The Company assumes
no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect
actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors
affecting forward-looking information, and if the Company does
update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should
be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect
thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on information available at
the time and/or management’s good faith belief with respect to
future events, and is subject to risks and uncertainties, some or
all of which are not predictable or within Virtu’s control, that
could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from
those expressed in the statements. For a discussion of the risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in forward-looking statements, see Virtu’s
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not
limited to Virtu’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
Contact:Media & Investor RelationsAndrew
Smithmedia@virtu.com investor_relations@virtu.com
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