Mizuho to Pay $127.5 Million to Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in CDO

The SEC has charged the U.S. investment banking subsidiary of Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group and three former employees with misleading investors in a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) by using "dummy assets" to inflate the deal's credit ratings. The SEC also charged the firm that served as the deal's collateral manager and the person who was its portfolio manager. (This enforcement action is related to the Delaware Asset Advisers enforcement action that also appears in today's news.)

View release in full here (links externally to SEC website).