Elon Musk faces US complaint for contempt for violation of SEC agreement

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a judge to convict Elon Musk in contempt of violating last year's settlement with the agency, raising a new set of regulatory issues for the CEO of Tesla Inc. , in full crisis.

The SEC said Monday that a February 19 tweet from Musk had violated the settlement when it had wrote that "Tesla manufactured 0 cars in 2011, but will manufacture about 500 000 in 2019." The settlement with this agency required it to seek the prior approval of the company for publications on social networks and other written communications that would be important to the company or the investors. .

"He has again posted inaccurate and material information about Tesla to its more than 24 million followers on Twitter, including members of the press, and has made this inaccurate information available to anyone with any kind of information. Internet access, "the SEC said in court documents filed in Manhattan federal court.

Tesla shares plunged 5.4% at 18:30. Monday in New York. The stock was already down 10% this year at the close of trading.

The SEC's move puts Musk at legal risk once again.

"They must view the behavior as another violation of securities laws to take this step," said Brad Bennett, former chief executive officer of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, who previously worked as a bankruptcy regulator. security lawyer at the SEC. "This is a very new situation in which a person is running a company with such a market capitalization and gives the SEC a cause for concern that it can not comply with securities laws."

Calls to Tesla and emails to Musk and his representative did not immediately return.

(Updates with case details.)