The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in Buffalo against Cygnus Capital Management and the estate of Richard Ventrilla (“Ventrilla”) alleging that they had defrauded 22 investors of $989,000.

Firms Fined. Exane, Inc. was fined$50,000 for failing to establish management controls and supervisory procedures to manage the financial and regulatory risks of the business. The firm’s credit limit controls were not automated nor applied on a pre-trade basis to prevent order entries that exceeded the pre-set capital thresholds for each customer.