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SEC v. BTIG, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2021)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In May 2021 the SEC charged broker-dealer BTIG with mismarking more than 90 sale orders and failing to locate shares under Regulation SHO. On 2 May 2022 the Southern District of New York entered a consent judgment with an injunction, US$315,048 in disgorgement, US$64,258 in interest and a US$315,048 penalty.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency SEC
Release number LR-25092
Date filed 2021-05-20
Date resolved 2022-05-02
Status settled
Criminal parallel No
Defendants BTIG, LLC (entity)
Also named elsewhere BTIG, LLC is named in 1 other matter
Cited as charged or alleged Regulation SHO (Rules 203 and 204) (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques The naked short selling debate

What was ordered

Civil penalty
$315k
Disgorgement
$315k
Prejudgment interest
$64.3k
Total relief
$694k
Alleged gain
—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on May 20, 2021 as release LR-25092. The respondents named are BTIG, LLC (0 individuals, 1 entity).

This library tags the matter as naked short selling debate, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

Outcome. SEC release LR-25380 says the court entered judgment by consent on 2 May 2022, enjoining BTIG from violating Rules 200(g) and 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO and ordering disgorgement of US$315,048, prejudgment interest of US$64,258 and a civil penalty of US$315,048, about US$694,000 in total. The release describes the order-marking and locate failures as the SEC's allegations, which BTIG resolved by consent.

The release does not report any admission, and does not say whether the underlying hedge fund customer faced separate action.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2021-05-20 Litigation release published
  2. 2022-05-02 Consent judgment entered (SEC LR-25380, published 3 May 2022)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Robinhood Financial LLC and Robinhood Securities, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2025) SEC 2025-01-13 Naked Short Selling Debate $45m settled
SEC v. Maxim Group, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2023) SEC 2023-09-29 Naked Short Selling Debate $800k settled
SEC v. Simplex Trading, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2023) SEC 2023-09-11 Naked Short Selling Debate $200k settled
SEC v. Hal D. Mintz and Sabby Management LLC (naked short selling debate, 2023) SEC 2023-06-14 Naked Short Selling Debate — filed
ASIC bans former fund manager for naked short selling (2023) ASIC 2023-05-22 Naked Short Selling Debate — judgment
SEC v. IMC Chicago, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2022) SEC 2022-08-12 Naked Short Selling Debate $125k settled

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.