SEC v. Meta Materials, Inc. ( and others (engineered short squeeze, 2024)

Settled

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In 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a release announcing a settlement of findings that the issuer inflated its stock price around a merger dividend before an offering. This library classifies the conduct as engineered short squeeze and reverse merger schemes. The release records a civil penalty of $1,000,000.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$1m

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$1m

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 June 25, 2024 as release 3-21976. The respondents named are Meta Materials, Inc. (, Torchlight Energy Resources and Inc.) (1 individual, 2 entities).

The order finds that the issuer designed a merger dividend to cause a short squeeze and spread that theory selectively to inflate its price before a stock offering, and orders a $1,000,000 penalty. The charges are Section 10(b) and Section 17(a), not Section 17(b), so the paid-promotion tag has been removed.

This library tags the matter as engineered short squeeze and reverse merger schemes, 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.

The conduct is recorded against equities, with Nasdaq identified in the release.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil penalty of $1,000,000. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 2 techniques 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.

• Engineered short squeeze — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Reverse merger schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2024-06-25 Administrative proceeding instituted (cease-and-desist)

Primary documents

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

• SEC order

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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.