The Mormon Church, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and its investment firm will pay $5 million (£4.1 million) to settle allegations that they concealed a massive cache of shares.
The LDS and its investment firm, Ensign Peak Advisers, concealed a $32bn stock portfolio using “shell” companies, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ensign Peak will pay a $4 million fine, while the Church will pay $1 million.
Both have denied any misconduct.
Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement, said in a statement, “We allege that the LDS church’s investment manager, with the church’s knowledge, went to great lengths to avoid disclosing the church’s investments, depriving the commission and the investing public of accurate market information.”
The financial markets regulator claimed the Church and Ensign Peak used shell firms to hide their growing share investments. Which had reached more than $30bn in 2018 for fear of negative publicity.
The SEC’s announcement revealed how Ensign Peak allegedly attempted to conceal a substantial portion of the Mormon Church’s investments.
The 1997 LDS-founded advisor in Salt Lake City allegedly created 13 US shell firms.
According to the report, the shell companies, not Ensign Peak, made quarterly SEC investment disclosures from 1997 to 2019.
A phantom corporation is a company that has no active business operations. These entities can be used to conceal business ownership from regulators and the general public.
The Church has over 16 million members in over 30,000 congregations spread across 160 countries.
It is believed that Ensign Peak manages at least $100 billion on behalf of the Mormon Church.
