“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,” Gurbir Grewal, enforcement director for the US Securities and Exchange Commission , said in a statement.The entity, commonly known as the Mormon church, and the investment arm didn’t admit to or deny the SEC’s allegations.
The church had knowledge of and approved this tactic, the SEC said. The agency expressed concern about the reporting structure in June 2019, according to the church, and soon after Ensign Peak began filing a single report. Ensign Peak disclosed in its Form 13F that it managed more than $44-billion, with its biggest equity investments in Apple and Microsoft, at the end of 2022.
The church was concerned that the disclosure of the assets, in light of its size, would have negative consequences, according to the SEC. Members are expected to give 10% of their income to the church to remain in good standing, a process known as tithing. Excess tithes were invested by Ensign Peak, according to the SEC’s complaint. Ensign Peak charged the church no management fees, according to the SEC, and invested the funds, and their returns, into stocks, bonds and real estate.