SEC v. Wm Smith & Co. and William S. Smith (2017)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 3, 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 June 2017 the SEC settled proceedings against broker-dealer Wm Smith & Co. and William S. Smith for failing to enforce written policies to prevent misuse of material non-public information. The firm paid a $50,000 penalty and Smith $35,000. The order does not charge either with trading on inside information.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	SEC
Release number	34-81025
Date filed	2017-06-26
Date resolved	2017-06-26
Status	settled
Criminal parallel	No
Defendants	Wm Smith & Co. (entity) ; William S. Smith (individual)
Techniques

What was ordered

Civil penalty: $85k
Disgorgement: —
Prejudgment interest: —
Total relief: $85k
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 Commission found that between January 2013 and December 2015 the firm did not establish, maintain and enforce policies reasonably designed to prevent misuse of material non-public information, including around research reports shared among analysts and staff. It found the firm willfully violated Section 15(g) of the Exchange Act and that Smith aided and abetted and caused the violation.

The firm agreed to pay a civil penalty of $50,000 and Smith $35,000. Because the finding concerns compliance procedures and not an act of insider trading, the insider-trading tag has been removed.

Timeline

2017-06-26 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.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.