SEC v. Wilson-Davis & Company, Inc. (naked short selling debate, 2017)

Settled

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In April 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled an action with Wilson-Davis & Company, Inc., alleging conduct this library classifies as naked short selling debate. The release records a civil penalty of $75,000, disgorgement of $208,646 and prejudgment interest of $27,069.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$75k

Disgorgement

$209k

Prejudgment interest

$27.1k

Total relief

$311k

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 April 26, 2017 as release 34-80533. The respondents named are Wilson-Davis & Company, Inc. (0 individuals, 1 entity).

The order finds that from November 2011 to May 2013 the firm relied on the bona fide market-making exception to the locate requirement for proprietary short sales that were not market making, and separately breached the market access rule (Rule 15c3-5).

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.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil penalty of $75,000, disgorgement of $208,646 and prejudgment interest of $27,069. 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 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.

• The naked short selling debate — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2017-04-26 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.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.