(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and its former CEO have agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle fraud charges for misleading investors about the impact the documentary film Blackfish had on the company\u2019s reputation and business. SeaWorld\u2019s former vice president of communications also agreed to settle a fraud charge for his role in misleading SeaWorld\u2019s investors.<\/p>\n
Blackfish criticized SeaWorld\u2019s treatment of its orcas (killer whales) and received significant media attention as the film became more widely distributed in the latter half of 2013. The SEC\u2019s complaint alleges that from approximately December 2013 through August 2014, SeaWorld and former CEO James Atchison made untrue and misleading statements or omissions in SEC filings, earnings releases and calls, and other statements to the press regarding Blackfish\u2019s impact on the company\u2019s reputation and business. According to the SEC\u2019s complaint, on Aug. 13, 2014, when SeaWorld for the first time acknowledged that its declining attendance was partially caused by negative publicity, SeaWorld\u2019s stock price fell, causing significant losses to shareholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case underscores the need for a company to provide investors with timely and accurate information that has an adverse impact on its business. SeaWorld described its reputation as one of its \u2018most important assets,\u2019 but it failed to evaluate and disclose the adverse impact Blackfish had on its business in a timely manner,\u201d said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. <\/p>\n
The SEC\u2019s complaint, filed in federal court in New York, charges SeaWorld and Atchison with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and charges SeaWorld with reporting violations. SeaWorld and Atchison have agreed to settle the SEC\u2019s charges without admitting or denying the allegations, with SeaWorld paying a $4 million penalty and Atchison paying over $1 million in penalty and disgorgement. <\/p>\n
SeaWorld\u2019s former vice president of communications, Frederick D. Jacobs, agreed to settle a fraud charge and to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest of approximately $100,000. He was not assessed a penalty, reflecting his substantial assistance in the SEC\u2019s investigation. All of the settlements are subject to court approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and its former CEO have agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle fraud charges for misleading investors about the impact the documentary film Blackfish had on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3,16048],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hedgeco-networks-press-releases","category-hedgeco-news","category-hedgecovest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65797,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65796\/revisions\/65797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}