A US federal judge has criticised the Securities and Exchange Commission’s settlement with entrepreneur Elon Musk over his purchase of Twitter in 2022, saying it raised a string of “red flags” and that she could not “rubber stamp” the agreement.
Under the deal, a legal trust in Musk’s name would pay a $1.5 million (£1m) penalty, which although believed to be a record for the type of offence involved, is 99 percent lower than the SEC’s initial demand.
The regulator had said Musk illegally gained about $150m by delaying the mandated disclosure that he had acquired more than 5 percent of Twitter’s stock, ahead of his eventual purchase of the company.
‘Irregularities’
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, DC on Wednesday met with lawyers for both sides to explain a string of “irregularities” in the settlement, Reuters reported.
