WisdomTree to pay $4M civil penalty related to SEC charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged New York-based investment adviser WisdomTree (WT) Asset Management Inc. with making misstatements and for compliance failures relating to the execution of an investment strategy that was marketed as incorporating environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, factors. WisdomTree consented to the entry of the SEC’s order finding that it violated the antifraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the compliance rule in the Investment Advisers Act. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, WisdomTree agreed to a cease-and-desist order and censure and to pay a $4M civil penalty, the SEC announced.