SEC suspends trading of 15 shares due to social media concerns

SEC suspends trading of 15 shares due to social media concerns

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trades from 15 companies on Friday, citing questionable trades and social media activities.

What happened: In a statement, the SEC said the suspension is part of the agency’s continued effort to avoid attempts to exploit investors amid market volatility that revolves around so-called meme stocks, such as GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME).

“Today’s action follows recent securities suspensions by several other issuers, many of whom may also have been the targets of apparent attempts by social media to artificially inflate their share prices,” the statement said.

Melissa Hodgman, acting director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said: “We proactively monitor suspicious commercial activities related to social media stock promotions and act quickly to stop these negotiations when appropriate to safeguard the public interest. We also remind investors to be careful and do their due diligence before investing in general, including in companies promoted on social media. “

Why it matters: The SEC order states that none of the issuers has submitted any information to the SEC or OTC Markets, where the securities of the companies are listed, for more than a year.

Under federal law, the agency can suspend stock trading for only 10 days and generally prohibits a broker-dealer from asking investors to buy or sell the stock again until certain reporting requirements are met.

The stocks that have been suspended are:

  • Beverage Co. drink (OTC: BBDA)

  • Blue Sphere Corporation (OTC: BLSP)

  • Ehouse Global Inc. (OTC: EHOS)

  • Eventure Interactive Inc. (OTC: EVTI)

  • Eyes on the Go Inc. (OTC: AXCG)

  • Green Energy Enterprises Inc. (OTC: GYOG)

  • Helix Wind Corp. (OTC: HLXW)

  • International Power Group Ltd. (OTC: IPWG)

  • Marani Brands Inc. (OTC: MRIB)

  • MediaTechnics Corp. (OTC: MEDT)

  • Net Talk.com Inc. (OTC: NTLK)

  • Patten Energy Solutions Group Inc. (OTC: PTTN)

  • PTA Holdings Inc. (OTC: PTAH)

  • Universal Apparel & Textile Company (OTC: DKGR)

  • Wisdom Homes of America Inc. (OTC: WOFA)

This follows the recent suspension of the following stocks for similar reasons:

  • Bangi Inc. (OTC: BNGI)

  • Sylios Corp. (OTC: UNGS)

  • Marathon Group Corp. (OTC: PDPR)

  • Affinity Beverage Group Inc. (OTC: ABVG)

  • All Grade Mining Inc. (OTC: HYII)

  • SpectraScience Inc. (OTC: SCIE)

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