Vista Financial Advisors LLC, et al.
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25848/ September 25, 2023
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Vista Financial Advisors LLC, et al., No. 23-civ-8432 (S.D.N.Y. filed September 25, 2023)
SEC Charges Adviser and Its CEO with Making Material Misrepresentations in Form ADV Filings
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Vista Financial Advisors LLC ("Vista") and Ruben Cedrick Williams ("Williams"), who co-owns Vista and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, for making material misrepresentations in Vista's 2022 and 2023 Form ADV filings regarding Vista's regulatory assets under management ("RAUM") and owners.
The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Vista and Williams falsely claimed in Vista's 2022 Form ADV filing that Vista had $10 billion in RAUM. According to the complaint, Vista and Williams ignored repeated requests from Commission staff to substantiate, correct and/or withdraw the claims regarding Vista's RAUM. The complaint further alleges that, rather than undertaking any corrective measures in response to the Commission's inquiries, Vista compounded the misrepresentation by filing an updated Form ADV for 2023 that stated its RAUM had grown to nearly $11.5 trillion. As alleged in the complaint, to the extent that Vista had any RAUM, these assets did not remotely approach the amounts represented in Vista's 2022 and 2023 Forms ADV.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that the 2022 Form ADV failed to disclose the identity of one of Vista's owners, and misstated how Vista's ownership interest was divided up among its remaining owners. Williams signed and certified both Form ADV filings.
The SEC's complaint charges Vista with violations of Sections 203A and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and Williams with violations of Section 207 of the Advisers Act and aiding and abetting Vista's violations of Section 203A of the Advisers Act. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief and civil penalties.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Zheng (Jane) He and Sandeep Satwalekar in the New York Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Paul Gizzi and Ms. He. The case is being supervised by Tejal D. Shah. The examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Syed Husain, Michael Devaney, and William Delmage of the SEC's Division of Examinations.