The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a cease-and-desist order against a Bedford resident for tardy disclosures of insider business transactions.
The SEC ordered Scott B. Stevens, 48, and Grays Peak Ventures LLC to comply with beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
Stevens is the managing partner of Grays Peak, a Manhattan investment firm, according to the SEC order, and from June 2019 to July 2020 he served as an officer or director of Agentix, a publicly-traded California biotechnology company.
Grays Peak owned shares in Agentix.
SEC rules require publicly-traded company insiders – officers, directors and major shareholders – to disclose their holdings. Various SEC forms must be filed when securities are registered for the first time, and when insiders buy, sell or otherwise acquire securities.
The reports are public records and are meant to maintain transparency in securities markets.
Several times, the SEC says, Stevens and Grays Peak missed deadlines for filing disclosure reports.
In May 2020, for instance, Stevens and Grays Peak disclosed that the firm owned 57.4% of Agentix’s common stock. The report was filed about 50 days late.
The SEC ordered Stevens to pay a $20,000 penalty and Grays Peak to pay $65,000. The agency noted that Stevens and Grays Peak cooperated with the inquiry.
