Shell company
A shell company is a corporate entity with no meaningful operations or assets. Shells are lawful and have legitimate uses, but a public shell with a share listing is also the raw material for reverse-merger and promotion schemes.
Where does shell company come up?
This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.
Enforcement actions involving these techniques
| Action | Agency | Filed | Technique | Penalty | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC v. Brian Quinn and David Skriloff (Environmental Packaging, 2024) | SEC | 2024-10-18 | Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks | $461k | judgment |
| SEC v. Meta Materials, Inc. ( and others (engineered short squeeze, 2024) | SEC | 2024-06-25 | Engineered Short Squeeze , Reverse Merger Schemes | $1m | settled |
| SEC v. Darren Ofsink and Michael T. Morris (CodeSmart, 2023) | SEC | 2023-04-03 | Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks +1 | — | judgment |
| SEC v. James T. Patten, Peter L. Coker Sr. and Peter L. Coker Jr. (reverse merger schemes, 2022) | SEC | 2022-09-27 | Reverse Merger Schemes , Price Manipulation | — | filed |
| SEC v. Charles Parkinson Lloyd (reverse merger schemes, 2021) | SEC | 2021-09-15 | Reverse Merger Schemes , Unregistered Distributions | $40k | settled |