The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against Connecticut-based Temenos Advisory and its former CEO George Taylor, who was ordered to pay $2 million in disgorgement and penalties.
The regulator charged Temenos and Taylor in July 2018 for putting $19 million of his elderly clients’ retirement savings into four risky, illiquid private placements, without conducting the proper due diligence or disclosing the risks, the SEC said. The SEC also claimed he overcharged some of his advisory clients and concealed high commissions the firm was earning from those risky investments.
The SEC’s complaint did not name the four investments, but it did also claim that Taylor failed to disclose known defects that came to light, such as a company’s poor financial condition and misstatements in the companies’ marketing materials. He also failed to disclose Temenos’ own deteriorating financial condition, the SEC alleges.
The firm and Taylor did not admit nor deny the allegations.
Temenos and Taylor were not immediately available for comment.