Kazakhstan fintech Freedom reportedly under investigation by SEC, DOJ
Kazakhstan-based fintech firm Freedom Holding is reportedly under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Freedom Holding reportedly under investigation by US SEC and DOJ
According to a CNBC report, the Nasdaq-trading fintech firm is being investigated over compliance issues, insider stock moves, and an offshore affiliate concerning sanctioned individuals. As per documents seen by CNBC and sources, the Boston office of the SEC has been investigating Freedom for months.
Additionally, the documents reportedly reveal that the SEC and DOJ are also investigating Freedom’s majority stakeholder and CEO, 35-year old billionaire and former Russian citizen Timur Turlov, amid claims he gave its Russian client base undue access to US initial public offerings (IPOs).
While Turlov declined to speak to CNBC, in an interview with a local Kazakh outlet, he “acknowledged” that “almost all global regulators came to us this summer”.
The concerns raised in the alleged investigations were also brought up by Hindenburg Research, a US-based investment research firm focusing on activist short-selling, in August.
According to its report, Freedom “still does business in the Russian market, and that the company has openly flouted sanctions along with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules”, which Freedom has denied.
Founded in 2008 and based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Freedom is a retail brokerage and investment bank and registered in the US.
